You're All I Need to Get By
by MagicInHerMadness
Summary: WWII Europe. Fitz is an Army captain. Olivia is an engaged nurse. They meet during Fitz's stay in the infirmary and he makes her question everything. Will she give up everything for a whirlwind romance or will she honor previous commitments? Will he break up a home for the strongest attraction he's ever felt?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So this story is based in WWII, roughly 1944. I'm not a big history person but I tried to be as accurate as possible. A big thank you to tumblr user MintysMiscellany for making the gifs that inspired this story. The title is inspired by the song "You're All I Need to Get By" by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell because I was listening to it when I was looking at the gifs lol. I really hope you guys like it. Please let me know what you think! XOXO**

Fitz blinked awake and immediately groaned at the pain radiating from his shoulder. He lifted his head, looking around the room and taking in the nurses milling about and the injured men on cots, and realized he was in the infirmary. He tried hard to remember what had happened to land him in the hospital but couldn't. He tried to use his left arm to sit up but it gave out immediately and he let out a strangled groan, thinking he might vomit from the pain. Immediately a red-headed nurse was at his side.

She was tall and thin and her uniform was pristinely white. She looked down at him with concern. "Captain Grant, please be careful. You just had surgery on that arm."

"What happened to me?" he asked, finding his mouth dry. He didn't know what day it was and couldn't remember the last time he was conscious.

"Your platoon was ambushed. You took a bullet to the shoulder and fell into a foxhole. You also got a pretty nasty bump on the head," the nurse answered. He read the name tag above the peak of her small left breast: Abby W, RN.

"How long have I been here?" he asked, trying again to sit up, this time using his right arm. He managed barely but Abby helped him the rest of the way.

"Two days. You were under in surgery for the first and you were recovering yesterday," she replied.

"What day is it?"

"Sunday." Fitz nodded, looking around. It came back to him in pieces. They had been creeping through a sparsely wooded valley when shots rang out. Everyone went for cover but there was little to be had. He remembered taking the bullet to the shoulder and falling into the foxhole among dead men.

He looked up when another nurse, a petite woman with perfect jet-black curls and skin the color of cinnamon appeared at Abby's side. She told Abby, "Dr. Rosen needs you in the O.R."

Abby rolled her eyes then smiled at Fitz. "This is Olivia. She's the best nurse here. She'll take good care of you."

_Olivia… _Fitz immediately had a new love for what he had once considered a rather plain name. He waved goodbye to Abby with his sling-restrained left arm then set his ice blue eyes on the beautiful woman in front of him. Olivia couldn't deny that he was handsome, even if he was in desperate need of a shave and shower. She was surprised when he said, in the most sensuous honeyed baritone, "Olivia... Beautiful name."

"Thank you," she replied with a smile. "I got it for my birthday"

Fitz laughed. "Gorgeous and funny. I think I'm in love."

It was Olivia's turn to laugh. She declared, "You're cute."

"Actually I'm Captain Fitzgerald Thomas Grant III, but please keep calling me cute," he replied with a devilish smile. Olivia laughed, shaking her head at him. Had he not been so handsome, she would have found his flirtation cheesy. But he _was_ incredibly handsome, and quite charming, so she allowed herself the pleasure of flirting with him. There was so little pleasure to be had during those times. Plus, he was a lot nicer about it than most of the men recuperating. They hadn't been around a woman in so long that they forgot how to be respectful with their advances. Every day was an endless cycle of less-than gentlemanly requests and her backside had received more pinches than she could keep count of. These reasons, coupled with a pair of particularly beautiful blue eyes, earned Captain Grant the first genuine smile Olivia had given in months.

She asked, "Are you always this charming?"

"No," Fitz replied, making her laugh. "I guess I have you to thank for it."

Fitz swung his legs over the bed and made a move to get up but found his legs didn't feel like his own. Olivia rushed to his side and situated her shoulders under his right arm to help him to his feet. She smiled at him. "Easy there."

"I got it," Fitz assured, smiling down at her tiny body. He guessed she was about 5 feet tall. Standing at 6'3, he reasoned he was far too large for her to be of any help to him. "I would hate to crush a tiny thing like you."

Olivia laughed. "I'm stronger than I look, Captain."

"Please, call me Fitz," he replied, allowing her to help support him as they moved toward the bank of showers. Fitz smirked at the soldiers who began whooping and howling like animals when Olivia approached.

"Hey sweet thing, there's room for one more in here!" one particularly loud man called as they moved past his stall.

"Shut it Ballard!" Olivia replied. Fitz frowned when he saw that her smile was gone. He felt instantly protective of Olivia, especially after seeing the hungry way Ballard looked at her. She pulled back the curtain of the empty stall next to Jake Ballard, gesturing for Fitz to go in. She gave him a friendly smile. "Just hand your clothes out to me and we'll see about getting you some that aren't covered in blood."

Fitz undressed quickly then handed Olivia his soiled clothes, smiling at her. "Make sure I get that shirt back. My sisters won't believe I got shot without it, Liv."

"That's Mrs. Davis to us," Jake cut in, eyeing Fitz challengingly.

"You're married?" Fitz asked, looking at Olivia curiously. Of course a woman as beautiful and enchanting as her was married.

"I'm not…yet. I'm engaged," Olivia replied, throwing Jake a look. She loathed him and his loud mouth.

"When's the big day?" Fitz asked, trying to keep his face neutral. He didn't want her thinking he was some creep like Jake.

"As soon as the war's over, we're gonna set it," Olivia answered. She knew it was morbid to be thankful for the war's halting of wedding preparations, but she wasn't sure that the life waiting for her in Georgia was the one she wanted. She loved Edison, but she always felt like the world had more to offer her than being the wife of a teacher. Edison didn't even want her to continue nursing when she got home. But it was in her blood, and she wouldn't let it go for anyone.

Fitz nodded as he handed his clothes out to her. Olivia checked that his pockets were empty then deposited the uniform in the canvas laundry bin. He turned on the shower then picked up the bar of soap on the little counter mounted on the wall. He found himself inconvenienced by his lack of two working arms. Olivia blushed when she found herself looking at Fitz's muscular back as she returned his destroyed shirt neatly folded.

Jake smirked at her. "Doting on the new meat, sweet lips?"

"I'm not gonna tell you to shut it again, Ballard!" Olivia snapped. It wasn't necessarily the nicknames she resented, but the way Ballard looked at her like he wanted to devour her. "And stop holding up the shower!" Jake grinned, undeterred. She was feisty and he liked that. He made a show of going back to bathing. Olivia looked at Fitz who was frowning at Jake. "I'll just leave this here for you. And we've got fresh towels and uniforms coming up soon."

Fitz smiled at her big brown eyes. He'd never been so taken with a woman. "You have a pretty accent. Where are you from?"

"Georgia," Olivia answered.

"I'm from California. If I had known there were girls as pretty as you in Georgia, I'd have taken a trip down south a long time ago," Fitz flirted. Olivia blushed and looked away from him. She didn't know what it was about Fitz that made her so giddy and giggly. Hearing the ding of the industrial dryer, she scurried away to get towels and uniforms. She returned a few minutes later with a cart full of clean laundry. She went down the row of showers, handing out towels to the soldiers waiting to emerge from the stalls. When she got to Fitz, she found herself grinning at him as he grinned at her. Their hands brushed lightly when she handed him two towels and she was surprised by the spark that passed between them.

"Thank you," he said politely.

"You're welcome," Olivia replied, wondering why on earth anyone needed such a sexy voice. Her smile disappeared when she moved on to Jake's stall. She handed him his towels, taking care to keep her hand away from him.

"Thank you, sweetheart," he chirped. Olivia rolled her eyes. Jake Ballard wasn't necessarily unattractive, but he was such an ass that she could hardly be nice to him most of the time.

"Welcome," she replied before moving on. After she distributed towels, she went back to retrieve the laundry cart Abby was filling with uniforms, mindful of a pair of enchanting blue eyes on her.

**A/N: I know this chapter was kind of short but the next one will be longer. Hopefully it was long enough to pique your interest. Don't forget to leave reviews!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: First of all, thanks so much for the reviews and follows! I never expected so much interest. Second, regarding some questions about segregated hospitals in WWII, I honestly had a hard time figuring out how to put them together because realistically they wouldn't have had any contact during the war. So I had to take a little creative license and bend some rules to get our babies in the same place. Third, these first chapters are kind of short because I'm building a foundation for all the mess that's coming up. Don't forget to leave reviews! XOXO**

After she distributed towels, she went back to retrieve the laundry cart Abby was filling with uniforms.

"So where'd that handsome Captain Grant get to?" Abby asked with a grin as she separated shirts by their sizes.

"He's in the shower, _Mrs._ Whelan," Olivia replied with a smirk. Abby had been married for five years. Her husband, George, was stationed in Norway, while Abby and Olivia were in Italy.

"He's _cute_." Olivia shot Abby a look. Abby shrugged. "I'm just looking. I'm sure George is having his share of fun ogling nurses."

Olivia shook her head. "Well I'll keep my eyes to myself if that's alright with you."

"Well good for you, _Mrs. Davis_," Abby replied with a silly smile.

"Don't call me that," Olivia replied. She hated that she hadn't even married Edison yet and already everyone was defining her in terms of him.

"Well you're gonna have to get used to it. You are marrying him, aren't you?" Abby had an inkling that Olivia wasn't going to be the blushing bride everyone was expecting. She hadn't met Edison, but she had read his letters and he didn't seem like the kind of man a woman as vibrant as Olivia would end up with. He was boring and pretentious and far too full of admonitions that Olivia didn't need from him. She was saving lives, and he was telling her to mind her figure, as if she was on vacation and indulging in delicacies on a regular basis. There was nothing to eat but cheap pasta and too strong coffee. Abby had ranted for hours after reading that letter, and even longer after reading the one in which Edison told Olivia he would be glad when she returned home and put "that silly nursing business" behind her.

"Yes," Olivia replied tightly, her face hot. Every time someone talked about marriage, she got hot and nauseas.

"Beats the hell out of me why," Abby replied. She and Olivia had talked at length about Olivia's reservations to marrying Edison. "He sounds like a real fucking bore. How's he in bed?"

"Abby!" Olivia blushed and looked around to make sure no one was paying attention to their conversation. "We are _not_ having this conversation!"

"Why not? I told you about George." Abby grinned. According to her, George was quite the lover. "I'm not asking for hot and heavy details. Just tell me if he's good or not."

"He's…okay. I don't really have much to compare him to," Olivia replied. She had only been with one man prior to Edison and that had been her first time so she didn't really know much about what to expect. Edison was adequate, she supposed. He was never rough or forceful, but he never got the kind of fire going that Abby was always going on and on about. He didn't make her hot and weak in the knees. He just made her feel pleasant for the short while that he was on top of her. "It's nice, I guess. Pleasant, even."

"Nice? You _guess_? Pleasant?" Abby scoffed. "Is he fucking you or painting your nails?"

"Abby!" Olivia would never get used to Abby's crass New York way of expressing herself. Girls in Georgia only talked that way in the privacy of bedrooms with best friends. But Abby had become her best friend over the months they'd spent together, so she guessed it was okay. "He's alright." Olivia's curiosity got the best of her. She muttered, "What's he supposed to be like anyway?"

"A helluva lot more than pleasant," Abby replied. Olivia shot her a look and Abby quickly continued, "He's supposed to make you wanna crawl out of your skin just by looking at you. His hand on your knee is supposed to set off fireworks. And when you two are going at it, you should be… I'll put it this way: the night before George shipped out, the next door neighbors called the police because they thought he was killing me."

Olivia couldn't help but cover her face and laugh. Abby was nothing if not informative. When she stopped laughing, she replied, "Well Eddy doesn't really do that. He just kind of goes straight to work. And I just kind of lay there. It's alright. No one's screaming bloody murder, but I don't have any real complaints."

"You should always be screaming bloody murder," Abby pointed out. Olivia looked at her unsurely. "Look Liv, when you marry someone, you're stuck with them forever. If the sex isn't Fourth of July fireworks now, it's gonna be nothing short of hell after the children start coming and you're both tired and old. George and I have the kind of sex now that I'll be thankful to have cool down when we start a family. I can't work 12-hour shifts and make school lunches and go to parent-teacher meeting after _that_ kind of banging. And I want you to have the same thing."

"I can't just tell him he's boring in bed," Olivia replied.

"You can find someone who's better in bed." Olivia shook her head at Abby, smirking a little. "I bet Captain Grant's good in bed."

"Abigail Whelan, I'm not gonna talk about that with you!" Olivia exclaimed.

"Why not?" Abby smirked at her uptight best friend. "Did you see those arms? And those thighs? If I was a less than honest woman, George would have a _lot_ to worry about." Olivia laughed in spite of herself. "But it wasn't even me he was staring at. He was looking at you like you were gravy and he wanted to sop you up with a biscuit!"

"He was _not_!" Olivia scoffed, blushing involuntarily. Fitz _had_ been looking at her rather hungrily, and he was quite flirtatious while doing so. She shook her head as she and Abby finished loaded the cart. "He's probably married with children waiting for him back home."

"He didn't have a ring, or a picture in his wallet," Abby pointed out. "How many married men don't have pictures?"

Olivia shrugged acquiescently. "Well either way, I'm engaged and he's not my fiancé so this conversation is pointless, Abby."

"Maybe not," Abby replied. "I get the feeling Captain Grant doesn't just let go of women he looks at like that."

"Shut up Abby." Olivia walked away, smirking at Abby's laughter. She didn't even want to think about Fitz thinking of her that way. Nothing good could come of it.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Okay so these updates are coming really fast but I'm so in love with this story that I can't stop writing it. Just to clarify, this chapter and 1 and 2 all take place on the same day. The next chapter will take place two days later. **

Olivia headed for the shower area and began distributing clean clothes to the men waiting. Jake smiled at her as he took his uniform, making sure their hands touched. She snatched away from him like he was on fire.

"Come on baby, don't be that way," he crooned. Olivia's skin crawled. Fitz, standing a few feet away at the sink where he was trying unsuccessfully to shave, frowned at Ballard. He'd had enough of his accosting Olivia.

"Hey Ballard, why don't you cool it? The lady's just trying to do her job," he said. Olivia looked at him, surprised at him coming to her rescue, and even more surprised at how unbelievable he looked with a towel wrapped around his waist. She had never seen abs so chiseled or biceps so perfectly sculpted. He was like Michelangelo's David, right down to the perfect coffee-colored curls slicked back off his face.

"Why don't you go to hell Grant?" Ballard spat back.

"Pardon me, _private_?" Olivia didn't know when Fitz had advanced on them but he was suddenly very close to Jake's face. "You already have a broken leg. Unless you'd like to spring for two, I suggest you take your clothes and move along."

Jake wanted to put up a fight but he did in fact have a broken leg. And there was something terrifying about Fitz's gaze and stance, like he was the kind of man who'd put your ass in a sling for sport. Jake frowned then turned and limped away. Olivia looked at Fitz as he walked back to the sink.

"Thank you," she said softly. "No one's ever done that for me."

Fitz shrugged. "No big deal. I have two sisters back home and stuff like that just gets under my skin." He went back to trying to shave but he was used to doing it with his left hand and was subsequently having trouble. He sighed, aggravated, as he cut himself for the second time. His left arm was throbbing. He put the razor down then frowned at Olivia. "My arm hurts."

She walked over to him and peeled the gauze from his wounded shoulder. "You ripped your stitches." She took a washcloth and cleaned the river of blood streaking down his arm. Fitz wiped the shaving cream from his face. "Let's get you back to bed so I can see about fixing this."

Fitz liked the feeling of her little warm body brushing against his as they walked back to his bed. She undid the sling and took it off his arm, frowning when he winced at her stretching his arm out. "You're probably gonna have to leave this thing off if you want to use your arm again."

"That's probably a good idea since I'm left-handed. I need this thing," he replied, flexing his arm. Olivia tried to ignore the defined musculature of his bicep but couldn't pull her eyes away. She was pulled out of her daze by him asking, "Are you going to re-stitch my arm or is the doctor coming?"

"I'm gonna do it," she replied then smiled teasingly at him. "Scared?"

"Well I took a bullet to the shoulder and my arm made it out okay so I figure you can't do too much damage," he replied, smiling at her. Olivia chuckled as she got off the bed to get a stitch kit. Abby was waiting near the front desk, smiling at her devilishly.

"Well you two are hitting it off," she said.

Olivia smirked. "I'm taking care of a patient, Abby. That's kind of what we do here."

"I'd take really good care of him," Abby replied, staring appraisingly at Fitz. "God, look at him…"

Olivia glanced at him and immediately wished she hadn't. In her absence, he was getting dressed, stepping into long muddy green pants and pulling them up his sinewy legs. His back muscles flexed and Olivia's mouth went dry. She knew she had no business ogling him like a horny teenager, but she couldn't tear her eyes away as he put on a white tank top undershirt. She finally snapped out of her daze when he sat down on his cot. She looked back at Abby. "I'm going to tell your husband on you."

"I'm going to tell yours on you too," Abby replied with a smirk.

"He's not my husband!" Olivia snapped then added, "Yet."

"Given your aversion to the term, I don't think he ever will be," Abby replied, shaking her head. She grinned. "Need some help with Captain Grant?"

"His name is Fitz and no I don't," Olivia answered, picking up the stitch kit off the counter.

"Fitz… When did you get so personal with the patients?" Abby was enjoying herself teasing her uptight friend about the handsome soldier.

"Shut up Abby." Olivia frowned as she walked away from Abby, but her smile quickly returned when she got to Fitz's cot. She asked, "Ready?"

"As I'll ever be," he answered. She put on gloves then swabbed his wound with betadine, apologizing softly when he winced. She removed the torn stitches then threaded her sterile needle. Fitz watched her beautiful face as she concentrated on stitching up his wound, wondering if he'd ever met a woman with such long, thick eyelashes or such a cute little nose. She was done in a few minutes and tied a little knot in the thread then clipped it. She threw the needle away then came back to his cot to find him lying on the cot, grimacing. He announced, "My head hurts now."

"Well you're just tearing up on us, aren't you?" she teased in a gentle voice. He managed a little smile. She put a blanket on him then went to the medicine station to get him something for his headache. When he returned, he was lying on his back, beautifully asleep. She placed the pills and water on the little table next to his cot then stood for a moment watching his chest rise and fall. There was no denying that she was attracted to him, and that he was to her. But she was engaged and she wouldn't allow herself to even fantasize about being with the dashing man. Still, he was certainly a breath of fresh air, so different from Edison and every man she'd come in contact with since signing up to be an army nurse. She told herself that there was nothing wrong with being his friend. They were both far from the comforts of home and humans needed companionship.

_Companionship_… she kept repeating to herself as she went about the rest of her shift, even as she found herself passing his cot unnecessarily to have a look at him. _Companionship_… she reasoned as her hand hesitantly lingered over the errant curl hanging on his forehead. She brushed it back gently and he stirred, giving what she could swear was a smile as he turned his head away from her. She shook her head and walked away. By the end of her shift, she had repeated the word to herself no less than a thousand times.

"Did you kiss your boyfriend goodnight?" Abby asked as they got their purses from their lockers to leave.

"Shut up, Abby," Olivia replied as they exited the hospital. They began the 10 block walk to the tenement where a few American nurses lived.

"Seriously Liv, I've never seen you smile so much," Abby pointed out. "You might not want to believe it or accept it, but you and that Captain Grant have something going on."

Olivia shook her head. "He's just nice."

"Yeah that's it. You spent the whole day drooling over him because he's just _nice_," Abby replied.

They got to their tenement, owned by an old Italian widow. The place housed 10 other nurses in small bedrooms whose walls were covered in the most horrifically gaudy pink and purple floral wallpaper. Olivia and Abby walked to their room and Abby squealed at the sight of mail on her bed. Olivia barely registered her own mail because she was so intrigued by Abby's excitement.

"It's from my mom!" Abby boomed. She tore the box open and squealed again. "It's cookies!"

Abby thrust the box out to her best friend and Olivia took a cookie. It had been what seemed like ages since she'd had chocolate. She moaned, "Oh God, I've missed chocolate."

"What did you get?" Abby asked, her mouth stuffed with multiple cookies.

Olivia looked down at the box and envelope on her bed. She picked up at postcard and turned it over, smiling as she read aloud, "I miss you ladybug. It's been raining nonstop here but you're all the sunshine I need. I love you to the moon and back, George." Olivia grinned at the surprised smile that warmed Abby's thin face. "That is too cute."

"He's the sweetest thing," Abby replied as she took the postcard and taped it to the mirror along with the others.

Olivia opened the box from her mother. She smiled hard at its contents: two tubes of red lipstick, eyeliner, and nylons. She looked at Abby and asked, "How sad is it that I could cry over the fact that she sent me makeup and pantyhose?"

"My mom sent me blush last week and I cried," Abby answered. "It's just one of those home comforts that doesn't mean anything until you aren't at home."

Olivia set aside the box of goodies, making a mental note to write to her mother. She picked up the envelope underneath it and saw that it was from Edison. They talked so infrequently. She opened the envelope and began to read his neat blockish handwriting.

_Dear Liv, _

_I miss you. I can't wait for you to come home. Then we can be together every day like we used to before you took off. How are things there?"_

_My mother has been looking at churches for the wedding. She said your church is nice but she wants something a little grander. I told her the choice is up to you, but she showed me a new church in Atlanta that I really like. It seems like it would suit us. She also wants you to please reconsider wearing white. I know you want to be unique but the color of your dress isn't really the place for that. People will talk about why you decided to wear something else. And you look so good in it. _

_All this wedding business is stressing me out. I can't wait for you to get back so you can get everything right. I really miss you._

_Love, _

_Eddy_

Olivia held the letter for a long time, staring at it in disbelief. It was like he thought she was on vacation. She was serving her country, saving lives. He was the one back home with nothing to worry about except his mother's wedding suggestions. The idea of planning her wedding made Olivia's stomach churn with anxiety. She brushed it off as cold feet. Abby looked at Olivia looking at the letter. She knew from her friend's frown that it was from Edison.

"Throw it away, Liv," she suggested. "Don't even reply." Olivia didn't answer, just thrust the letter out to her friend. Abby took it and read it quickly, frowning the whole time. When she finished, she balled the letter up and tossed it in the garbage. She sat on her bed and looked at her friend. Olivia was 5 years younger than her, but they had bonded like sisters. "You know, it's not really my place to say, and my opinion is only based on what I've witnessed so I can't say how you two are when you're with each other, but I don't think he's the one, Liv. He just… He doesn't get it. He doesn't get you. I think the one for you is still out there."

"I don't know what to think anymore," Olivia replied. "We're happy together but it's not like it used to be. It's like we're stuck in one moment all the time and I don't know how to move us forward."

"Maybe there's nowhere else to go," Abby suggested gently. "Maybe he's one of those people who blew into your life to stay for a while and teach you a lesson. He isn't meant to stay forever."

"Do you love him?"

"I don't know." Olivia began pacing back and forth. "I think I do. I don't have much to compare things to. He makes me happy enough." She stopped pacing for a moment then started back. "But marriage is more than that right? It can't be constant rainbows and butterflies. That's not what life is."

"Life isn't settling either, Liv." Olivia looked at her in surprise, like she'd forgotten Abby was there. In truth, she almost had.

She gave a deep sigh. "I don't know."

"Well, sweetie, you might want to find out. You're supposed to go home at the end of the month."

They got ready for bed in silence. Olivia paced the room as she undressed then put on her night clothes. Abby had known her long enough to know that that meant something was bothering her. Olivia was putting things into place in her mind, compartmentalizing all her worries. She didn't have time to deal with Edison's shenanigans. She had a job to do. She decided they would have a long conversation when she got home before she decided on anything final. She climbed into bed and felt herself relax. Abby's soft snoring was oddly relaxing. It reminded her of her father's snore, a sound she'd grown used to hearing all her life.

She was almost asleep when Fitz's face swam into her mind. She normally thought about home before she fell asleep, all the things she wanted to do when she got back, but tonight she couldn't think of anything but those eyes and those curls and that smile. She knew she was in deep shit.

**A/N: It's going to get messy—well messier—in the next update. I really love hearing from you guys. It keeps the creative juices flowing. Please review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: The response to this story is overwhelming and I'm honestly flabbergasted that you guys like it so much. I'm honestly just a nerd pecking away at her keyboard trying to undo some of the damage SR has done to us Olitz shippers. **

Two later, Olivia arrived to cover the afternoon shift and smiled when she found Fitz at one of the sinks near the showers. In the days that she'd been caring for him, she'd developed a warm affection for him that surprised her with its quickness in taking root in her heart. Little did she know, Fitz was feeling that and so much more. He was clad in only a towel, trying rather unsuccessfully to shave again.

"Need some help?" Olivia offered, coming to stand next to him. He smelled heavenly. He looked down at her and smiled. She was so beautiful.

"I don't know what assistance you could be, what with me all the way up here and you all the way down there," he joked.

Olivia retrieved a stool from the nurse's station and returned with it a minute later. She smiled and commanded, "Sit."

He responded with a smile of his own and surprised her by lifting her off her feet, earning a shocked squeak that widened his smile, and placing her on the stool, making them eye-level. His grin was boyishly handsome as he assured, "Don't worry. I won't let you fall."

She shook her head, smiling in spite of herself as his large hands encircled her delicate waist. "You're ridiculous."

"I thought I was being chivalrous and charming," he replied. She smiled as she began shaving his face, her hands moving slowly and steadily. "So tell me about your fiancé."

"His name is Edison and he's a teacher," Olivia replied, slightly annoyed that he didn't want to hear about her. It seemed that Edison could eclipse her even though he was an ocean away.

"He sounds nice," Fitz remarked. He sounded boring but Fitz sensed that he wouldn't earn any points with her by talking down her man back home.

"He is," Olivia replied. "Tell me about your wife."

Fitz smiled. "Don't have one."

"Girlfriend?"

"I'm completely unspoken-for, ma'am." Fitz smiled at her. "Unless of course, you're offering."

"I don't think Edison would like that," she replied with a smile.

Fitz shrugged. "Well maybe we just won't tell him." Olivia laughed. He was charming if nothing else. She finished shaving the light stubble off his chin and he rubbed his smooth face. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," she replied. He picked her up again and placed her on her feet on the floor, his hands lingering on her waist.

"You got a little something…" He brushed a stray eyelash off her soft cheek and brought it to her lips on his fingertip. "Make a wish." She smiled at him and playfully rolled her eyes before blowing the eyelash off his fingertip. She wouldn't breathe her wish to a soul. Fitz couldn't shake the smitten grin plastered on his face. "You are so beautiful."

She blushed crimson under his intense stare. "I've got to go to lunch. You should probably let me go." She smiled sweetly. He took his lingering hand from her waist.

"Can I come with you?" he asked. It was against policy to take patients from the hospital, but he wasn't exactly an invalid. He was going to be there for a few more days to make sure his wound didn't get infected and that his arm healed properly, but he was otherwise in perfect health.

"You shouldn't. I'm not supposed to," she answered, more worried by her wanting to spend time with him than the consequences potentially faced for violating hospital rules.

"Please," he implored, smiling sweetly at her. "I won't tell anyone, not even your fiancé."

Olivia laughed. "Maybe you should get dressed and then we'll see."

"Do you promise not to leave without me?" he asked as he towel to keep it from slipping off.

"Yes," Olivia said rather reluctantly. She knew she shouldn't have been going anywhere with him, not when he made her stomach quiver so violently. After he got dressed, he went to the front door of the factory that had been repurposed as the US army's infirmary and smiled when he found her waiting there with her little black handbag. She smiled at him and shook her head. "You're such a troublemaker."

"_I'm_ a troublemaker?" He laughed beautifully. "You're the one who's sneaking an invalid out of the hospital for lunch."

Olivia pushed the door open and they stepped out into the Italian spring heat. Looking at the small city, one would never have guessed the horror of the battlefield on its outskirts. Children played football in the streets, old women watched them from stone front stoops, knitting or shucking corn as they sat. Fitz wasn't sure if he should hold Olivia's hand, if it was appropriate for whatever they were doing, but decided to reach for it anyway. Olivia knew she shouldn't hold Fitz's hand. It wasn't appropriate in the least, but she held it anyway.

"Have you had the ice cream here yet?" she asked as they approached a man with a gelato cart.

"If it isn't in the mess hall, I haven't had it," he answered with a smile. "Which is probably why I've lost ten pounds since I've been here."

Olivia laughed, stopping at the cart. She smiled at him. "What flavor do you want?"

"Chocolate," he answered. Chocolate was his favorite flavor of anything.

"I like cherry," she replied.

"I have the cherry," the man replied, surprising them both by speaking English. "I do not have the chocolate. I have café though."

"I want cherry," Olivia said, digging around in her purse for money.

"I'll have the café." He looked at Olivia. "That's coffee right?" She nodded, finally extracting a few rumpled dollars. Fitz shook his head at her. "Your money's no good here."

Olivia smiled at him. "I can buy my own ice cream, Fitz."

"Not with me," he replied, pulling out his wallet. He grinned at her. "This is me being chivalrous and charming again." Olivia laughed. That man could charm the sweetness off a honeysuckle. Fitz looked at the man. "Do you take American?"

The man nodded. "Am not supposed to. The government… But yes."

Fitz handed the man a dollar and the man produced two waffle cones. He filled one with cherry gelato and one with coffee-flavored. Fitz smiled as he leaned over and licked Olivia's cone.

"Hey!" She pulled it away, laughing.

"That's good," he replied, reaching for it, smiling at her as she held it out of his reach. He licked his own gelato then offered her his cone. "Come on. You can have some of mine."

"I don't know where your mouth has been," Olivia teased.

"On your ice cream," Fitz replied with a grin.

She finally licked the cone then held hers out to him. He took a bite off the top and left a glob of gelato on his chin. Olivia smiled at him as she reached out to wipe it off. He immediately licked the red confection off her finger, surprising them both. Olivia sheepishly took her hand away from his mouth, blushing so hot she was sure her whole face was red.

Fitz thought of kissing her, but that would have been pushing the boundaries too far. He wasn't sure how long it would be before he kissed her though. He was having a rather hard time holding out, especially when all he'd been able to think of was her plump lips and the red lipstick she always wore.

Olivia laughed. She liked that Fitz could make her laugh. Edison only laughed at his own jokes most of the time. She wasn't even conscious of intertwining her fingers with Fitz's until it had already happened. It felt so casual, so natural, like their hands were meant to be together. She smiled at him as they walked on. He licked it then held his cone to her lips.

"Mmm." Olivia smiled as she licked her lips. "That's really good."

"You're so beautiful," Fitz said without thinking.

Olivia blushed. "You're so sweet. How are you not married?"

"Haven't met the right girl," he replied then smiled devilishly. "Unless you're offering, ma'am."

Olivia laughed. "I think you're supposed to do the offering, Captain Grant."

Fitz held up her left hand, showing her her engagement ring. "Someone beat me to it."

Olivia's smile didn't reach her eyes. She licked her ice cream and looked around the street, not wanting to say anything. She had been growing less and less thrilled about the engagement since she'd left the states. She wondered if it was the distance but told herself that distance shouldn't matter when you loved someone. None of the other women seemed any less in love with their husbands despite the fact that they were so far apart and, given the circumstances, might not ever get back to each other. Fitz noticed the shift in her demeanor. He said, "You know it's none of my business, and I could be completely wrong, but you don't seem happy about your engagement."

"I said yes because I was supposed to," Olivia admitted, looking at her shoes.

"Who said you were supposed to?" Fitz asked, looking down at her.

Olivia shook her head. "The man you've been dating for a year proposes in front of both your families at Christmas… You say yes. You have to say yes. It's just what you do."

"The man you love proposes and you say yes. _That's_ what you're supposed to do, Liv," Fitz replied.

"You don't understand what it's like," Olivia implored. "I'm twenty-four. We'd been together for a year. My family likes him. His family likes me. Saying yes was the right thing to do."

"Did you want to?" he asked.

"I didn't _not_ want to," she answered hesitantly. "I just wasn't expecting it. It didn't feel right. It still doesn't…"

"Then why are you going through with it?"

"Because he asked I guess," Olivia replied. She and Fitz reached the corner of the street. She pointed out her favorite restaurant across the street and they walked on.

Fitz squeezed her hand. "You should do whatever you want, Olivia."

"I want to be married," Olivia replied. Fitz frowned and a knot formed in his stomach. He didn't know what it was about Olivia that struck him so profoundly. He was surprised when she went on, "But I don't think I want to be married to Edison."

"Then don't marry him," Fitz said simply.

"It's not that simple," she answered, frowning. Everyone was expecting her to marry Edison, to have the perfect life, and she wasn't sure she could disappoint her whole hometown. The idea of that much disappointment made her nauseas with guilt.

Fitz stopped outside the restaurant's red front door and looked at her. "Whatever you choose to do is your business, Olivia, and I'm not saying what I'm about to say because you're the most beautiful woman I've ever met and I can't stop thinking about you. You should only marry someone if you want to be with them forever. If you don't, you shouldn't. You're the most vibrant, electric, enchanting woman I've ever met and the idea of you settling is just unfathomable. If it's not right, don't do it."

Olivia nodded. She wasn't sure what to say, how to reply. Nothing was definite. For all she knew, she could get home and find herself head over heels for Edison. But a part of her knew that wouldn't happen. Her gut told her he wasn't the one, and her gut was almost never wrong. She squeezed his hand and he squeezed back. They shared a small smile as they entered the restaurant.

XXXXX

"See anything you like?" Fitz asked.

Olivia looked up at him. "I think the gelato spoiled my apetite."

He grinned at her. She was so cute. "We can share spaghetti. Or is that too cliché?"

"Sounds perfect to me," she answered. She reached across the table and placed her hand on his, rubbing his roughened knuckles and the downy soft chestnut hair on the back of his hand. He looked down at her little cinnamon-colored hand atop his and felt a sense of rightness, like his hand had never truly belonged to him until she coupled hers with it.

"Wine?" They were broken from their intimate staring at each other by a tiny waitress with a curtain of espresso-colored hair hanging down to her waist. The little woman held a large ceramic jug in her child-sized hands.

"It's not too early is it?" Fitz asked, looking at Olivia.

"I haven't had wine in _months_," Olivia answered, already offering her glass to the waitress.

Fitz smiled at her. "You're so cute." The waitress filled their glasses then took their order for a plate of spaghetti and left. Fitz raised his glass to her. "I'm not really sure what to toast to, but it seems appropriate for the moment."

"How about to serendipity?" Olivia suggested.

"What's that?" he asked.

"Finding something good when you least expect it," she answered with a soft smile.

"Can't argue with that." He clinked his glass with hers and they took sipped their wine.

"Oh that is _magical_," Olivia cooed, licking the sweet wine off her lips.

"I'm not really a wine person but this is good," Fitz agreed. "I'm more into single malt scotch."

"I _love_ wine," Olivia agreed. "Eddy hates when I drink though."

"Why? Do you take your clothes off or something?" Fitz hoped she did. His mind had wandered to the wonders hiding under her uniform on more than one occasion.

Olivia laughed. "I keep my clothes on. I dance a bit though. He doesn't like to dance so it's a little contentious."

"I couldn't imagine not wanting to dance with you," he replied. The waitress arrived with a steaming plate of spaghetti which she placed between them. Fitz immediately dug in and declared, "I haven't had food this good in… I can't even remember."

"How long have you been here?" Olivia asked, twirling pasta around on her fork.

"I've been here for 3 months. Before that, I was in Berlin for a year," he replied. Olivia took note of the haunted look that crossed his face when he said Berlin. She understood.

"I've been here for 4 months. I was there for 2 months. I've never begged for anything, but I begged for a transfer," she said. She still sometimes dreamt of the place. Blood-spattered baby shoes in the shoes. Women picking the corpse of a horse clean of everything. Rotting bodies in heaps in the street.

Fitz smiled at her. "How is it we've been everywhere together and haven't run into each other?"

"Let's call it kismet," she replied with a smile.

"I love your smile." Olivia blushed as she reached over to wipe a little tomato sauce off the corner of his mouth.

"This old thing," she joked. Fitz twirled pasta on his fork and held it out to her. "Now _that's_ cliché." Fitz laughed as she leaned over and ate the pasta off his fork.

XXXXX

Later that evening, as the sun set over the old city's crumbling skyline, Olivia and Fitz found themselves still together. They had eaten lunch and walked through the park. They lay on a hillside and talked about everything and nothing, never running out of things to say. Olivia knew it was illogical, that you didn't fall in love in a day, but she was certainly feeling something for Fitz. Fitz was perfectly okay saying that he was falling in love with Olivia. She was everything he had ever dreamed of, an absolute delight.

Fitz reached out and brushed a curl back from Olivia's face. "I love your hair. It's magical."

"Magical?" Olivia laughed. "I don't think so. It's just hair."

"It's so soft." He scooted closer to her, closing the little space between their bodies in the grass, and inhaled the scent of her ebony curls. "It smells heavenly."

Olivia shook her head at him and his dreamy oceanic eyes. She took his hand from her hair and was going to put it down but found herself holding onto it. "You and your way with words… If I could marry half the sentences that came out of your mouth, I'd be the luckiest woman in the world."

It was Fitz's turn to shake his head as he caressed the back of her soft little hand with his thumb. "If I could marry you, I'd the lucky one."

Olivia frowned as she looked at him. "Why didn't I meet you sooner? What kind of coward was I to say yes to him and not wait for you to come along?"

Fitz smiled and squeezed her hand. "If you want, we can run away. Somewhere no one would ever look, like Canada."

Olivia laughed, laying on her back in the warm grass. Fitz watched her, thinking that he'd like to make her laugh for the rest of his life.

**A/N: So that was fluffy. I can't help it. These two knuckleheads make me all starry-eyed and romantic. It's not gonna be all rainbows and butterflies though. Don't forget to leave your reviews! XOXO**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Unfortunately our babies aren't gonna run away together to Canada. I got a PM asking about what look I envisioned for this Olivia and accidentally deleted it so I'm posting the answer here. The best I can give is Kerry's first appearance in "Ray." I **_**loved**_** her first look in the restaurant scene and the one when Jamie plays "I've Got a Woman." I'm not sure if the times are consistent with each other, but that's what I had in mind. Anyway, there's a little more fluff to be had before the angst gets going so get your fill before it gets all weepy. **

The next day, Olivia arrived at the hospital just as the men were waking up. She preferred the afternoon shift, as the injured men were usually much less disgruntled in the middle of the day, but she didn't mind so much since Fitz was there. She looked around and was surprised to find his cot empty. She wondered where he was.

"Looking for your boyfriend?" Abby asked, suddenly beside her.

Olivia smirked at her friend. "I was just looking around."

"Keep telling yourself that," Abby replied. "I'll just pretend I didn't see you two sneaking off yesterday at lunch time."

"We didn't sneak anywhere. I went to lunch. I don't know where he went," Olivia lied.

"So you saw a patient leaving and didn't advise him that it was against the rules?" Abby smirked.

"I wasn't really paying attention. I was more concerned with lunch."

Abby looked up from their sign-in sheet. "Are you really going to lie to me that way? I don't mind the lying, but you should probably come up with a better story than that."

"Okay," Olivia relented. "We went to lunch…and the park. It wasn't serious."

"Serious enough for you to lie," Abby pointed out.

Olivia shot Abby a look. "It wasn't serious, Abby."

"So are you gonna give Eddy the old heave-ho?"

"One doesn't have anything to do with the other."

"It does in my book. I think you'd be cute with Captain Grant." Abby grinned at her friend. "And how pretty would your babies be? With your smile and his eyes… Oh, Liv!"

Olivia laughed. "We had lunch. We didn't get married."

"George and I used to have lunch. When I was in nursing school, he'd drop by everyday on his break from the GM plant where he worked and we'd have lunch in the university cafeteria. And look at us."

Olivia shook her head. "We're not going to talk about this. We had lunch. It was nice, but I'm still engaged."

"Does he know that?"

"Yes."

"Does he care?"

"Y—" Olivia remembered Fitz's fingers interlaced with hers. And all the sweet things he'd said, that she was beautiful and electric and that he couldn't stop thinking about her. She looked at Abby. "How would I know what he cares about?"

"I'd imagine something as big as a wedding would be a prominent topic of conversation," Abby said.

"Don't you have surgeons to assist?" Abby laughed as she left her friend to head to the OR. When she was gone, Olivia again turned her eyes to Fitz's cot. He was there, taking to a dark haired man with his arm in a sling. She watched him for a moment before heading off to the assignment sheet to see which patients she was in charge of. She had Fitz and his dark-haired friend, Jake Ballard, and another man who was thankfully on a morphine drip so he wouldn't require much attention. She frowned as she headed to Jake's cot first, wanting to get him out of the way early.

"Have you showered yet?" she asked, bypassing a greeting.

"Well now that's no way to greet me," he replied with a saccharine grin.

"Not in the mood, Ballard. Have you showered?"

"Yes ma'am, regrettably without you."

She frowned at him. "Does that actually work on women?"

"A few," he answered proudly.

Olivia shook her head. "I can't imagine what kind of women they are. Actually I can, but I'd rather not."

"So you don't think I'm cute? Not even a little?" he asked with a frown.

Olivia blinked at him. "I'd sooner drench myself in honey and roll around in fire ants than touch you." He looked surprised. She looked back at the chart. "Did you eat? Is your leg hurting? Is your head hurting? Are you having regular bowel movements?"

"Yes, no, no, yes," he answered. He looked up at her with wide eyes. "You really don't like me?"

"If you'd tone it down, I might be able to tolerate you," she replied before leaving him. She checked in on the patient on the morphine drip. He was out cold and probably would be until her shift was over. She moved on to Stephen Finch, Fitz's cot neighbor.

"Morning Colonel Finch," she said, aware of Fitz looking at her even though he was reading a book.

"Morning ma'am," he replied. He smiled. "You look lovely today."

"Thank you." Olivia looked down at his chart. "Have you showered already?"

"Just got finished," he answered.

"Have you eaten?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Is your arm hurting?"

"A little stiff but it's alright."

Olivia made a note on his chart suggesting that his sling be removed. "Is your head hurting?"

"No ma'am."

"Are your bowel movements regular?"

"As can be," he replied. Stephen grinned at the cute nurse. "I like your accent."

"I like yours," she replied with a congenial grin. Fitz shifted on his cot and her eyes darted to him. His ears were red and his knuckles were white from his grip on his novel.

"Thank you ma'am." Stephen stood and left, headed for the nurse wheeling around the library cart.

Olivia smiled as she moved to Fitz's cot. "Hi."

"He was flirting with you," Fitz declared, looking up at her with a cute frown.

"I noticed," Olivia replied, flattered that he was jealous.

"I'll fix it," he assured.

Olivia couldn't help but laugh. "What am I going to do with you?"

"I like what you've been doing so far," he replied. It was wrong, sinfully wrong how exhilarating it was to flirt with him. She smiled at him. He asked, "So how's your day been?"

"Sun shining, birds singing, nothing to complain about," she answered. "You?"

"Pretty bleak before you showed up," he replied.

"Have you showered?"

"I'm clean as can be ma'am."

"Is your arm hurting?"

"No ma'am."

"Is your head hurting?"

"No ma'am."

"Have you eaten?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Are your bowel movements regular?"

"Yes ma'am."

Olivia smirked at him. "Why do you keep calling me ma'am?"

Fitz gave a boyish grin. "I heard you southern girls like manners."

Olivia laughed.

XXXXX

Olivia was awakened from her nap by someone knocking at her door. It was one of the other nurses who shared the tenement, Joanna. She was tall and ample with white blonde hair coiffed in perfect ringlets. For a large woman, she had a comically little voice.

"Olivia there's someone here to see you," she said from the doorway. Olivia sat up and smoothed her hair. She hadn't been planning to fall asleep, just to rest her back for a little bit before getting around to writing to her parents and Edison, but she had apparently been asleep all afternoon. She looked out her window as she stood. It was nearly dark. She walked downstairs, yawning as she descended the stairs, and was surprised to find Fitz standing in the tenement doorway.

"Hi," he said casually, like he stopped by every evening.

"Hi," she replied, her eyes wide with questions. She quickly looked around and was thankful Abby had gone to do her laundry in the basement and couldn't see them. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanna take you somewhere," he answered. "It's not too far. You'll need shoes though."

Olivia glanced down at her bare feet. She looked up at him. "How did you get out?"

"I had help," he replied cryptically.

"You can't keep leaving," Olivia admonished.

"The doctor gave me permission to, provided I don't come back in any worse shape than I'm already in," he replied with a dashing smile.

"Where do you want to take me?"

"It's a surprise." She could almost laugh at the smile on his handsome face. He was a man-child in the most charming sense of the word.

"I'll need a minute to freshen up." She really needed a minute to decide if she was really going to go on a date with Fitz. Well, another date.

"Take all the time you need. I'll wait outside." She nodded and watched him step outside, taking a seat on the stone front steps, before heading back upstairs. She quickly brushed her teeth then her hair before touching up her eyeliner and putting on lipstick. She even found herself smiling as she looked at her dresses in her closet. She finally pulled out a mulberry-colored sleeveless dress with a bateau neckline and a flared skirt and quickly slipped it on. She put on black t-strap pumps then gave her hair a once over with her brush before grabbing her handbag and heading downstairs. She quickly looked around for Abby before scurrying out the door.

"I hope I'm not overdressed," she said, making him turn around.

"Wow," he exhaled, along with a plume of smoke. He put out his cigarette then stood. "You're not overdressed at all. You look… Wow."

"You really like it? Eddy hates this dress. I just love the color so much," she rambled, nervous. She couldn't believe she was really going out with him.

"I think you're beautiful in everything," he replied earnestly. He had only ever seen her in her uniform, and the black lingerie she wore in his daydreams, but he felt like she could have been wearing a potato sack and still been breath-taking.

Olivia blushed hard. "So where are we off to?"

"I'm not going to spoil the surprise," he replied with a smile. He offered her his arm and she took it shyly.

XXXXX

The little dance club was humming with music so loud that Fitz and Olivia could hear it out on the street. Fitz smirked at the way Olivia was smiling.

"I'm not a good dancer," he volunteered. His father had never liked the idea of his son dancing, and after Fitz's mother died, Big Gerry had stopped Fitz from even tapping his toe to a beat.

"Really?" Olivia was surprised.

"As you'll soon see, I've got two left feet," Fitz replied, pulling her along by her hand. After the way she talked about loving to go dancing back in Georgia, the way her eyes had lit up, there was no way they were doing anything other than dancing.

In the club, Fitz twirled Olivia around to jazz music in the middle of the dance floor. For someone who claimed he wasn't a good dancer, he was surprisingly good at it once Olivia got him to loosen up and enjoy himself. They danced to every song the band played, breaking a light sweat and drawing more than a few looks. They were a stunning couple. Fitz hadn't danced in nearly twenty years, but there he was, smiling and twisting with Olivia to the upbeat jazz. When the band slowed the tempo, Fitz almost shyly pulled her close so that their chests were touching. Olivia wrapped her arms around his neck, laying her head on his chest.

"I expected you to be terrible," she admitted. "But you're really good."

"It's just not one of my favorite things to do," he replied with a smile, wanting to add that it could become one of his favorite things again if he got to do it with her every night.

She looked up at him and smiled. "So this is all for me?"

"Guess so," he replied with the sweetest smile. Olivia wanted to kiss him but stopped herself. She was still engaged, willingly or otherwise. "Livvie, I'd do anything with you anywhere."

Olivia's hands found his face and he expected her to kiss him. But she didn't. She just caressed his cheeks with her thumbs, staring at him. She admitted, "I'm scared of you."

Why?" Fitz asked.

"You make me honest, more honest than I've ever been with anyone," she answered.

"Is that a bad thing?"

"No. Just a scary one."

"Good scary?" Fitz stared at her intently. He didn't want to frighten her.

"I think so," Olivia answered.

"Can I kiss you?" Fitz held Olivia's face in his right hand. "I know I shouldn't, and it wouldn't be right, but I can't stop thinking about it."

Olivia would have been lying if she said she hadn't thought of kissing him too. She knew she shouldn't. Wrong was a gross understatement for what kissing Fitz would be. But already his face was moving closer and her spine was tingling with anticipation. His lips were petal-soft against hers. Her nails scraped the wispy curls at the back of his neck. She felt his tongue against her lips and let him into her mouth. He kissed her starry-eyed. Olivia would never forget the warmth that spread throughout her body. It made her wild. Only when they needed air did they part lips. Olivia blushed hard, her cheeks burning. Edison's kisses had never made her feel anything close to that. She croaked, "We should go. I've got the early shift in the morning."

Fitz smiled. "You're right. I should get back too."

"No more breaking out," she admonished with a smile.

"Yes ma'am," he replied. Olivia laughed as they walked off the floor.

They walked mostly in silence until they got to the tenement. There were still lights on in most of the windows. They smiled at each other under the dim light of the lone light bulb hanging over the front door.

"Would it be… Could I…" Fitz wasn't sure how to phrase what he wanted to say to her. She wasn't available, but she was right there in front of him. Now that she'd been in his arms, he knew he would never get her out of his head.

"What is it?" Olivia asked. She could see the wheels turning in his head.

"Nothing," Fitz replied. "It's not really appropriate for the moment."

"Please tell me," Olivia implored. She wanted to know every thought he'd ever had.

"Well I just… We had such a nice time and I really like you. But you're engaged… I was just…" She had never seen him blush.

"Fitz…"

"Would it be… Could I take you out?" he finally blurted. "Like on a real date? I know you're engaged and we just met and I have no right to ask but… I've never met anyone like you Olivia. I just can't let the chance to learn everything about you pass." He took a deep breath. "It's okay if you say no. I would say no. I'd probably slap me if I were you."

Olivia smiled softly. She was already in the wrong. She might as well commit fully to infidelity. "I suppose that would be alright. But maybe we shouldn't call it a date."

"That's okay," he replied. "As long as you're there, we can call it whatever you want." Olivia broke into a wide grin. "There you go doing that thing with your face again. You smile more than anyone I've ever met." Olivia laughed. It wasn't that she smiled a lot in general. She just smiled a lot with Fitz. "You have the most beautiful laugh. Everything about you is beautiful."

Olivia crashed her lips into his, her fingers knotted in his hair. She was surprised at her boldness. She let him go then breathed, "Goodnight Fitz."

"Goodnight Olivia," Fitz replied, waiting until she was inside before he went back to the hospital. No one seemed to notice he'd been gone. He kicked off his shoes then undressed and got into his bed. He stared up at the ceiling, thinking about Olivia: the scent of her hair, the silkiness of her skin, the taste of her lips. At the tenement, Olivia sat on her bed and slipped off her shoes, glancing over at Abby's sleeping form and hoping she didn't awake. She stood and began unbuttoning her dress.

**A/N: Our babies are playing with fire. What will Abby say? What will Fitz say to Stephen? Will Olivia and Fitz get burned or will it be just the spark they need to combust? Don't forget to leave your reviews! XOXO**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: I **_**love**_** the reviews. Y'all make my day and some of you crack me up. Y'all are really not here for Edison. People rarely are, but I digress. This chapter is setting the stage for Liv and Fitz's big date. It happens after they get home from dancing.**

"Are you really not gonna tell me where you've been?" Abby asked. Olivia nearly jumped out of her skin. She whipped around and found Abby sitting up in her single bed, eyeing her intently.

"I haven't been anywhere," Olivia lied.

"Really? Because I haven't seen you all evening," Abby replied with a smirk. She had a good idea of where Olivia had been, especially when Joanna told her a handsome man had come looking for Olivia. Abby had a very good idea of who the man was. Now she wanted to know where they had gone. "Tell."

"Fitz came by and asked to take me dancing. I went," Olivia answered. She didn't want to go into detail. She wanted to bury everything about their day together in a safe place in her heart to keep forever.

"And?" Abby knew there was more to the story.

"We kissed. We shouldn't have. He asked me on a date. I said yes. I shouldn't have." Olivia heard the reality of everything she'd just said and lay back on her bed in her white slip. "Oh, God. What have I done Abby?"

"You've caught the love bug, Liv," Abby replied.

"I can't be in love with someone else. I'm supposed to go home and get married in a month. And Fitz is going to France in a few weeks," Olivia whined. "This is a mess."

"This is the kind of stuff great love stories are made of!" Abby gushed. "I've got this feeling that the two of you are special."

Olivia covered her face. "I'm going home to get married and he's going to France. It's kismet."

"Stop being so cynical. My George is in Norway and I'm not worried about him coming back to me," Abby replied. "You and this Fitz have crossed paths for a reason. Have a little faith, Liv."

Olivia shook her head. "In what? A kiss with someone I've known four days?"

"People have a lot more faith in things a lot less promising," Abby insisted. The meaning wasn't lost on Olivia.

XXXXX

In the infirmary, Fitz tossed and turned on his cot, waking Stephen. The colonel turned onto his side and squinted at his friend in the darkness. "You wanna come off it over there, pretty boy?"

Fitz sighed as he rolled onto his back. "Sorry man."

"What's got you all wound up?" Stephen asked. "Is it that girl you bugged the doc about getting out to see? Who is she anyway?"

"Just a girl," Fitz lied. Olivia was many things, but she wasn't "just a girl" by any stretch of the imagination.

"Bollocks," Stephen scoffed. "She's something special, special enough for you to dream about anyway."

"What are you talking about?" Fitz couldn't remember what he'd dreamt, just that he'd woken up dry-mouthed and sweating.

"You were calling out for someone named Olivia for a while," Stephen answered. "You kept rolling over and calling her name. Who is she?"

Stephen knew his friend was lying. In the week they'd been in the infirmary together, Stephen had learned that Fitz was honest almost to a fault. He wondered why Fitz was being so cryptic. Then it clicked. "You were dreaming of the nurse! The black one with the accent! You _dog_!"

Fitz blushed. He had never blushed over a woman before. He replied, "It was just a dream."

"Is she the one you went to see?" Stephen had noticed the way Fitz became goo-goo eyed and slack-jawed when Olivia was around. Fitz didn't reply, just looked away from his friend. Stephen grinned. "She is! You've got a thing for her."

"Go to bed," Fitz replied. He didn't want to talk about Olivia. Well, he did, but he didn't want to deal with the reality that she belonged to someone else, that what they had didn't hold a candle to the commitment she had back home.

Stephen grinned in the darkness. "I can't blame you for wanting her. She's a cute little thing. Nice bum."

"Shut up," Fitz replied.

"Pretty face too," Stephen went on. Fitz glared at Stephen but didn't reply. "Nice pair of melons on her too."

"We're not having this conversation," Fitz insisted. He didn't want anyone talking about Olivia that way. Her body was something he wanted to keep reserved for his own private thoughts.

"And all that buttery brown skin… I wouldn't kick her out of bed." Stephen laughed when Fitz reached over and punched his shoulder. "Don't like me talking dirty about the missus, pretty boy?"

"Shut up," Fitz groaned. "I don't wanna talk about her."

"What's wrong with her?" Stephen sat up and looked at his friend.

Fitz sighed. "She's engaged."

"Engagements break off," Stephen offered. "And she went out with you tonight." He couldn't make out Fitz's face in the darkness. "Plus, she looks at you just like you look at her. I've been with enough women to know the eyes don't lie."

"Eyes? That's all the romantic advice you got?"

"Give her a go. What've you got to lose?"

"What am I supposed to say? 'Hey I know you've been with that guy for a year and you've only known me for four days but you should give him the boot and be with me instead.' Do you really think that'll work?"

"Crazier things have happened," Stephen pointed out. "Don't count yourself out just yet, pretty boy."

XXXXX

Fitz found himself wandering into the book storage room looking for Olivia. He spotted her immediately, loading books from a box onto the cart.

"Hi," he said, leaning against the shelf and smiling at the top of her head as she knelt next to him, arranging books on the bottom of the cart.

"Hi," Olivia replied. She looked up at him and smiled softly. "Did you need something?"

"No. Just…" His sentence trailed off as he stared at her with a dreamy smile.

Olivia stopped loading books on the cart and stood upright. She looked at him with wide, serious eyes. She had awoken that morning intent on finally replying to Edison's letter, having already mailed a postcard to her parents, but when she sat down to write all she could picture was Fitz's eyes and his smile. It was all so wrong. She started, "About last night…"

"Before you say anything else, just stand here with me for a minute. Just one minute. You're just a girl and I'm just a guy and none of that other stuff matters. Just for a minute." He gave her that charming Grant smile. "Please?"

There was nothing she could do when faced with those eyes. She simply replied, "One minute."

He smiled at the smile that slowly spread across her face as he reached over to interlace his fingers with hers. She looked down at their hands for a moment before looking up at his face. He smiled at her, looking at her in a way that no one else ever had, like she'd hung the moon. After a short while—much longer than Olivia had intended to be standing out in the open holding his hand—Olivia slipped her hand away from his. "I should get to work."

"Okay," he replied reluctantly letting her hand go. "Are we still going out? I promise I won't make you dance with me again."

Olivia laughed. "I suppose we can still go out."

Fitz couldn't stop the toothy grin from spreading across his face. He pushed his errant Superman curl back from his head. "So tomorrow at 8? I was thinking we could go back to that little place with the good wine. Unless you want to do something else."

"Dinner sounds lovely," she replied, smiling at his smile. He was so excited to be with her. Fitz couldn't resist reaching out to caress her cheek before he went back to his cot.

XXXXX

Dear Eddy,

Things are good here, much better than they were in Berlin. I've ever made a friend. Her name is Abby and she's a surgical nurse. Her husband is in Norway. They're so in love. It's almost too cute. The days are long but they're rewarding. I wouldn't mind re-enlisting for a few more months. I know how you feel about it, but I love it so much. I wish you wouldn't discuss the wedding this way. There's nothing to be accomplished through letters. We'll talk when I get back.

I miss you,

Liv

Olivia stared at her small, neat handwriting. She wished her letters were long and filled with sweet things like the letters Abby and George sent back and forth. It amazed her that they talked about their days like they were on the phone instead of hundreds of miles apart. But that was all she had to say to him. She'd often thought they were more good friends than lovers, but her friends back home insisted that passion was fleeting, that love wasn't always fireworks. She didn't want fireworks all the time, but it would be a nice change if Edison drove her crazy for once. It seemed everything with them was always lukewarm. They never even raised their voices. Honestly, he was a good man. Perfect in some aspects. But they weren't compatible where it counted.

She sighed as she put the letter in an envelope and addressed it. She thought of ripping the letter up and writing a new one, one where she told him find someone new, that they weren't right for each other. She could put the ring in the envelope and unchain herself from the anxiety that had been plucking her nerves for months. But breaking up with someone in a letter was an ill-mannered, cowardly thing to do. Breaking off an engagement in a letter was a positively shitty thing to do. Plus there was a part of her that enjoyed Edison's company. And what would her parents say if she broke off her engagement without at least talking to them? And her friends? And Edison's family? By the time his mother got through tarnishing her reputation, she'd never be able to show her face in her hometown again. Besides, she only had a month until her enlistment was up. By then she would know exactly what she wanted. Hopefully…

A certain pair of blue eyes was complicating already muddy waters…

**A/N: Next up is the big date! That chapter should be up in a few days. Don't forget to leave your reviews!**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I want to address some of the concerns in the reviews. **

**The issue of race will be addressed later on. Right now, they aren't in a place where race isn't as big an issue as it is in America. But it will come up before everything's said and done. **

**Someone wanted to know where Jake went, which is a first because people are here for him less than they are for Edison. However, Jake will make another appearance pretty soon.**

**A few of you were wondering if Fitz and Olivia will live in the US if they end up together. Considering that at the time interracial marriage was illegal and even being in an interracial relationship was extremely dangerous with the exception of a few places, if Fitz and Olivia end up together it probably won't be in America. **

**There have been several comments about the length of the chapters. The upcoming ones will be longer. The last one was especially short but it was mostly filler and setting the stage for this one. **

**Some people were wondering why Liv hasn't broken up with Edison yet. If she breaks up with him, it will be in person. It will also not be because of Fitz. The relationship was flawed before she met Fitz and his presence doesn't change the fact that she and Edison have issues. If she breaks up with him, it will be her decision completely and part of her asserting her independence from her tendency to let others' opinions dictate what she feels she should do. I don't personally like the idea of her dumping one guy for another because that implies that a new guy fixes everything. Fitz adds a little perspective to her relationship with Edison in that he shows her what she could have if she'd let go of her inhibitions. She's just a bit uptight if you all haven't noticed. **

**Now that I've bored you all to death with my neurotic ramblings, let's get to the big date! **

Olivia jumped at the sound of a knock on the door. She raced down the stairs in her bathrobe and opened the door. Fitz stood on the other side, smiling nervously as he clutched a bouquet of red tulips.

"Am I early?" he asked, looking down at her white robe.

"No," Olivia replied, looking down at herself. "I was just about to get dressed."

"Oh. Okay. I'll just wait out here. Take as long as you want." Olivia smiled at him. He was so sweet and didn't even seem to be aware of it. He sat on the steps and Olivia grinned at the back of his head for a moment before heading upstairs.

"He's here and I still have no clue what to wear!" Olivia cried as she darted into her room.

Abby looked up from painting her fingernails. "Wear that purple dress."

"I wore that dancing," Olivia replied as she stood before the mirror, putting on lipstick.

"Wear that blue dress. The one with the pleats," Abby suggested.

Olivia pulled the dress out and looked it over then put it back. "That's not the look I want. I want to look…"

"Sexy," Abby finished for her. "Wear that polka dot blouse with the red skirt."

Olivia pulled the outfit out and looked at it. She hadn't worn it yet. She hadn't had anywhere to wear such a snug skirt. She put the outfit on and looked at her backside in the mirror. "Do you think the skirt's too tight?"

"I think your ass looks damn fine in it," Abby replied. "And if I think it, he will. And wear those cute shoes with the t-straps."

Olivia nodded and went to get the shoes from the closet. She put the shoes on then looked at herself as she adjusted the shirt's necktie. "Do you think I should put my hair up?"

"Just pin the left side back," Abby replied. Olivia nodded and pinned the left side back. She had never been so nervous. She put her lipstick and breath mints in her little black purse then looked at Abby. "God Abby, I've never been so nervous."

"Why are you nervous? You're just going to dinner. Or are you planning to sleep with him?" Abby grinned like the Cheshire cat.

"No!" Olivia cried. Things weren't going to go that far. She still had a commitment to Edison to uphold and she'd already pushed the bounds of infidelity too much.

"Whatever you say, Liv."

"I'm not sleeping with him." Olivia headed for the door.

"Are you telling me that or yourself?" Abby smirked at her uptight friend.

"I'm not sleeping with him." And with that, Olivia was out the door. Abby shook her head as she went back to painting her nails. She was already prepared to not see Olivia until the next morning, especially after catching sight of Olivia's powder pink lacy bra and panties.

XXXXX

Fitz swirled spaghetti on his fork as he watched Olivia sip her wine. She was luminescent in the moonlight pouring through the open window they sat next to. She met his gaze and smiled softly. His uniform was freshly pressed. He had even tamed his hair with pomade in an attempt to look as presentable as possible.

"Are you excited to be heading home in a few weeks?" Fitz asked casually. He was incredibly anxious about Olivia going home for fear that she would forget him.

"Yes," Olivia replied then frowned. She wanted to go home. "No." She didn't want to deal with wedding preparations and Edison's insistence that she quit nursing. She gave an exasperated sigh. I don't know."

"Don't you miss your family?"

"Well yes, but there's more than that waiting for me at home and I'm not so sure I'm ready to be bothered with it."

Fitz knew what she was alluding to and didn't want to bring down their evening. Deciding to go someplace lighter in their talk, he asked, "What do you miss most about home?"

"My instruments," Olivia answered.

"What do you play?" Fitz asked.

"The cello, and the piano," Olivia replied.

"My sister Celia plays the cello. I could never understand why someone so small would pick such a big instrument. Well, she's small compared to me. She's bigger than you. Of course, everyone seems bigger than you." Fitz realized he was nervously rambling and took a sip of his wine. Olivia giggled at his nervousness.

"I picked it because—and this is going to sound crazy—it sounded so sad the first time I heard it, like it needed me. I just thought if it was played by someone who loved it, it would be the most beautiful sound in the world," she answered.

He smiled. "You are really something, Livvie." He asked, "Did you love the piano that way too?"

"Not really. My mother taught me one restless summer and I liked it more as busy work than anything else. When I play the cello, it's all feeling. I don't think at all. But the piano kept my fingers busy so I could let my mind wander. I usually only play when I need to think."

"My grandfather taught me the saxophone the summer I turned 9. I was staying with them for the summer and I think I had worn him thin asking him about being in the war. So he gave me his old sax and taught me to play under the condition that I didn't ask him anything else about the war."

"So you always wanted to be a soldier?"

Fitz grinned. "I wanted to be a hero. I thought if I worked at it hard enough, I could grow up to save the world. Enlisting was the closest I could get."

Olivia smiled at the image of a little Fitz running around his backyard in a cape. "I've always wanted to be a nurse. Or a painter. My parents wouldn't hear of me spending my life broke and peddling my watercolors though."

"What do you paint?"

"Flowers mostly. I have a fascination with lighthouses so I've done dozens of those. I don't want to sell my paintings anymore. I just want to come from a hard day and work out my kinks on the canvas."

"That's how I feel about my music. My sisters think I should join a jazz band because apparently I'm just that talented," he chuckled wryly, "but I just want to play. When all my work is done, I want to sit on the porch with my sax and find some beauty in this mixed-up world."

"Amen to that," Olivia replied. She smiled at him. He was so much more than she'd ever imagined he'd be. She was completely fascinated.

XXXXX

Olivia was floating on a cloud as she and Fitz left the restaurant. She would have been lying if she'd said that she felt guilty. She should have, but she never felt anything but giddy with Fitz. Fitz held her hand as they walked down the dimly lit street.

"I have to tell you something," he said reluctantly.

"What is it?" The look on his face troubled Olivia.

"They want me to go to France earlier than what was originally planned," he answered.

"How much earlier?"

"Monday." It was Friday. Olivia felt like the wind had been knocked out of her. She didn't know what she would do without Fitz. She didn't know what it meant that she was so heartbroken at the prospect of him leaving.

"I don't know what to say." She didn't know what to say. She just knew that her heart was splitting in two.

"Say you won't forget me. Say you'll write to me. Say you're feeling what I'm feeling." Fitz stared at her with an intense need that wreaked havoc on her soul. She loved Edison, but it was nothing compared to what she felt for Fitz. She had only known him a week, and she'd never been one to believe in love at first sight, but she and Fitz had something special, something otherworldly.

"I'll write to you. Everyday. Even after I go home," Olivia replied with wide, earnest eyes.

Fitz stopped walking and pulled her close, held her so tightly that he almost hurt her. "So you feel it too?"

"Yes," Olivia replied in a small voice. "I shouldn't, but God help me I do."

Fitz decided to go for broke. "Say you'll wait for me, Livvie. I have furlough scheduled in a few weeks and I'll be back in the states. Say you won't marry him until we've seen each other again." He pulled at his curls, a knot in his stomach. "I don't have the right to ask, but I'm crazy about you. If I come and you don't want me, I'll never bother you again. But if I get there and this is still between us, promise me you won't marry him."

Olivia stared at him. He was worried about not having a right to ask her to wait but she was the one in the wrong. She was the home wrecker. She was the cheater. She should never have flirted with him, never kissed him, never done anything but take care of him. But she couldn't leave it there. She couldn't _not_ flirt with him, _not_ kiss him. It was like she had been waiting her whole life for him to show up. She replied, "I… I'll wait for you, Fitz."

The smile that spread across his face made her dizzy with love. She wanted to kiss him breathless.

"So what now?" he asked.

Twenty minutes later, they were checking into a little hotel owned by a stooped-over half-deaf man and his large wife. Olivia's heart hammered as they climbed the stairs to their second floor room. The room was small with a large bed. There was a rickety wooden table and chair, and a little dresser below a clock that ticked loudly. Fitz opened the door and allowed Olivia to enter first. When he closed the door behind him, he was surprised by her crashing her lips into his, pushing him back into the door.

"I was going to ask if you wanted this," Fitz said between her feverish kisses, "but that seems unnecessary."

"I don't think I've ever wanted anything as much as I want this," Olivia replied, grinding her hips into his. Fitz took hold of her small waist and began walking them backwards toward the bed. The backs of Olivia's legs hit the bed and she sat down then lay back, pulling him on top of her. Their clothes were disposed of in what seemed like seconds, leaving them both naked and panting. They stared at each other longingly. It was their first and quite possible their last night together.

Fitz's calloused fingertips caressed her silky bare flesh, loving every inch of her. He sucked on her taut nipples like a starving man, enjoying the way her body trembled beneath him. He left leopard spot-like marks everywhere his mouth touched. She would have balked at Edison leaving marks on her, always having thought them tacky and tawdry, but Fitz's mouth felt so good on her flesh. Olivia knotted her fingers in his unruly curls, pulling her knees back and opening herself to him. He was surprised and exhilarated to find her center wet and hot. He groaned at the ease of slipping two fingers inside her, making her hips buck beneath him.

"Fitz, please… I can't wait any more," she cried when he rubbed her bundle of nerves between his thumb and forefinger. She had never been so excited or wanted a man so much. She had never felt the need that was pulsing through her body. Placing a sweet kiss on her lips, he slipped off the bed and retrieved a condom from his pants pocket. He rolled it on then climbed back into bed with her. They both gasped at the feeling of him pressing against her entrance. Olivia's eyes rolled back as he pushed inside her eager heat. Her hips rocked as her back arched. She let out a breathless little "ah!" and her head fell back as he thrust into her hard. He liked that noise. He wanted to hear more of that noise. Focusing on that spot, he found a driving rhythm, enjoying those breathless little "ah's."

"Oh God, Liv…" he groaned, his lips on the curve of her jaw. Olivia's fingers knotted in his hair, tugging on it gently. Her legs snaked around his waist, pulling him deeper into her warmth. Their pace was quick but powerful, making the headboard bang against the wall rhythmically. Were it not for the thudding headboard, her cries could only have meant bloody murder. Fitz bit into her supple flesh and pushed her knees back to her chest so he could pound her senseless, spurred on by her high-pitched cries.

Olivia felt her orgasm building deep in her core. Her whole body trembled in anticipation of the impending explosion. She had never known herself to be a screamer but she could hear herself calling his name as she rocketed toward oblivion. Fitz lay atop her, his arms hooked underneath her body, tugging gently on her hair. His warm breath brought goose bumps to her neck as he groaned her name against her skin. She bit his earlobe and he groaned, his nails making little crescent moons on her hips. He had been with his share of women but none of them came close to feeling like Olivia. He could tell she was inexperienced but the way her body reacted to his touch drove him wild. He hammered her without mercy, so close to the edge. They exploded simultaneously. Olivia bit his shoulder to keep from screeching. Fitz let out a strangled groan as he reached his peak. Olivia wasn't sure when it happened, but suddenly she was weeping on his shoulder. Fitz held onto her, rolling them over so she was on top of him wrapping his arms tightly around her. He kissed her forehead then her eyes then the streaks of tears on her cheeks. He didn't say anything, but his presence was the most comforting thing Olivia had ever experienced. She managed to stop crying, her sobs ending in little hiccups.

"Are you okay?" he finally asked in the softest voice. Olivia nodded and sniffed then slipped off him to go in the bathroom. Fitz wondered if she regretted being with him. He hoped she didn't because he had never been so enamored with anyone. He needed to her to feel the same way he did. He got up and removed the condom, tossing it into the garbage, then slipped on his boxers. He went to his pants to get a cigarette. He found a book of matches in the nightstand next to the bed then cracked the dirty window a bit before climbing back into the bed and lighting up. Olivia emerged a moment later and Fitz finally had the opportunity to look at her body in all its glory. He would never forget every magnificent curve, the freckles on her back, the little half-moon birthmark on her left shoulder.

Olivia managed a smile as she walked back into the room. She looked around the room and was surprised to find her panties on top of the dresser. She pulled them back on then got into bed with Fitz, laying between his legs with her back to his chest. He kissed her shoulder, offering her his cigarette. Olivia wasn't much of a smoker, unlike most nurses, but she took it anyway and took a drag off it. She exhaled a plume of smoke then took another long drag, feeling her nerves settle. She held the cigarette to his lips, shifting so she could look at him. Fitz's hands held her breasts as he leaned down to take a pull off the cigarette.

"I've never had sex like that before," she admitted quietly. Fitz hadn't either, but he sensed she was talking more about the emotional feelings than the physical ones.

He replied, "Me either." His fingers absently played with her nipples, sending little tremors through her body. "What's your favorite color?"

Olivia looked up at him. "What?"

"I wanna know all those silly things about you: your favorite color, your favorite food, how old you were when you had your first kiss; all those random things you learn from spending too much time with someone," he replied.

Olivia smiled. He was just too cute. "Well, my favorite color is yellow, and my favorite food is French fries. I could eat them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I was 11 when I had my first kiss." She looked up at him. "What about you?"

"My favorite color is green. My favorite food is steak. Medium rare. Always. I was 8 when I had my first kiss," he answered. "When's your birthday?"

"January 31st," she answered, turning onto her stomach so she could look at him. "When's yours?"

"September 1st. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?"

She thought for a moment. "Jamaica."

"Why?"

"It's where my parents were born and they always talk about it so fondly. My mom says the water's so clear you can see your own reflection. And it's supposedly always sunny, and Jamaicans have never met a stranger." He loved the sparkle in her eyes. She asked, "What about you?"

"California," he answered without hesitation. "I can't imagine living anywhere else. The palm trees, the beaches, the food… It's like paradise." He smiled dreamily at her. "You should come visit. You'd never want to leave."

Olivia smirked at him. "You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

"Definitely." He wrapped his arms around her. "Or I could come to Georgia. I've always wanted to try those peaches."

"You'd stick out like a sore thumb in Georgia talking like you do," she teased.

Fitz laughed. "What's wrong with the way I talk?"

"It's so fast," she replied.

He smirked. "Am I supposed to drawl like you?"

"There's nothing wrong with a little twang," she insisted, smiling at him. "Plus, you said you liked my accent."

"I like everything about you, Livvie."

"You and that smile…" Olivia kissed him, sucking on his bottom lip.

"You and this skin," he replied, running his hands down her back. "I've never seen skin so beautiful. It's like you've been kissed by the sun. And it's so soft…" He rolled her onto her back, rolling onto his side and looking down at her adoringly. She couldn't remember Edison ever looking at her that way. He took her right nipple in his mouth, sucking like a starving man. He scooted down to plant wet kisses on her stomach then her thighs. He kissed down to her ankles then back up. Olivia sat up on her elbows, watching him pepper feather-soft kisses on the insides of her thighs. When he reached the apex, she shuddered at his warm breath on her sensitive skin. Her elbows lost the ability to support her when his mouth made contact. She pulled her knees back, opening herself, and desperately grabbed hold of his curls.

"Oh God, Fitz," she whimpered. He licked her bundle of nerves and moaned appreciatively when her hips bucked. He repeated the gesture over and over until she was screaming bloody murder and tugging on his curls frantically. When her screams turned into breathless mewls and pleas, he knew she was close. He had to hold her thighs apart to keep her from suffocating him when he slipped his tongue inside her. She arched her back, trying to get away and push closer at the same time. When she erupted, he lapped up her sweet nectar.

"So sweet," he murmured as he moved to spoon her. He smiled against her neck. "Like brown sugar." Olivia giggled. "Can I call you that?"

She again and replied, "As long as there's no one around to hear you."

He smiled, planting kisses on her neck as he pulled her right leg over his, moving to align their cores. "Oh there won't be. I'm never letting you out of this bed."

XXXXX

The sunlight pouring through the hotel room window stirred Olivia awake. She moved to sit up and remembered where she was when she found herself trapped by Fitz's arm around her. She rolled onto her back and smiled at the sight of Fitz. He was beautifully asleep, his curls wild and his face completely at peace. She brushed a curl back from his face and he stirred. He opened his eyes and a sleepy smile spread across his face.

"Hi," he said before yawning.

Olivia smiled. "Hi."

He used his hold on her to pull her close so he could kiss her. He rolled on top of her, pulling her arms above her head as he slipped his tongue in her mouth. Olivia was practically light-headed with arousal. But she had to work that afternoon. She reluctantly pulled her mouth away from his.

"I have to get to work in a little while," she mumbled against his lips.

"Well then we've got time," Fitz replied with a devilish smile. Olivia glanced at the clock. It was nearly 10 and she had to be at work at 12. Plus, she needed a shower and makeup on her bitten neck.

"We don't. I would love it if we did. But I need to get home and make myself presentable for work," Olivia replied reluctantly. Fitz rolled off her and she sat up in bed. The sheets fell away from her bare breasts. The light flooding through the window hit her skin and Fitz was struck by how beautiful she was, breath-taking as her skin glowed in the morning light. She looked at him sheepishly. "What?"

"Nothing. You're just really pretty in the morning," he replied with a goofy grin.

Olivia blushed as she smoothed her hair. "I've never heard that one before."

"Well it's true," he replied, reaching over to caress her cheek. He watched as she got out of bed, looking around the room for her scattered clothes. He finally got up and got dressed too, stopping to turn on the radio.

Olivia stopped in her tracks at the sound of the song playing. She turned to look at him with wide doe eyes. "I love this song."

"I've never heard it," he replied.

"It's called 'Dream a Little Dream of Me,'" she answered. "My mother used to sing it all the time around the house."

Fitz smiled dreamily at her. "Will you dance with me?"

Olivia smiled at him. He was just too perfect. She stepped closer to him and he closed the space between them, wrapping his arm around her waist. Her arms encircled his neck and she stepped closer, pressing her chest to his. She lay her head on his shoulder and allowed him to move her around the room to the music. Fitz was surprised when she whispered, "We should do this forever."

"Dance around a dingy hotel room?"

Olivia poked his side, smirking up at him. He just smiled at her and continued swaying her to the music. When the song was over, he sheepishly released her, watching with a smile as she grabbed her purse. She was quiet as they walked to her tenement, her hand in his. When they reached the stone steps, she looked up at him.

"So Monday's the day…"

He nodded. "I guess it's okay. I've always wanted to see Paris." He looked down at their still interlocked hands. "Well, I did before I met you. Now I just want to see it with you."

"I wish I had done everything in the world with you," she admitted.

Olivia's eyes closed at the feeling of his lips on hers. The lines of right and wrong had blurred beyond recognition. They had fled the land of black and white, and now everything was bathed in shades of gray. She didn't know what time would bring, but she knew that everything was different. She would go home a different Olivia, and Olivia who craved the feeling she had with Fitz, the feeling that she was completely alive.

**A/N: So they had an eventful evening. Fitz is leaving—pause for tears on that—but he'll be back. But what will he come back to? Honestly things are about to get angsty and if you're not up for that, you might want to check out now. There will still be fluff because I feel like the show gave us enough Olitz angst to give anyone an ulcer, but things are about to get complicated for our babies. They're relationship kind of existed in a bubble and is about to brave the world. Don't forget to leave your thoughts! XOXO**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: So our babies are separating. I'm gonna be honest, I bawled like a baby writing this chapter. I almost couldn't separate them, but I had to be a big girl and just do it. Some of you were wondering about the use of protection because they used a condom the first time but not the second. I honestly didn't think about it and I should have so that's my bad. But Olivia isn't going to get pregnant. Yes, we all love Olitz babies but things are going to be complicated enough for Olivia and whoever she ends up with without adding a baby to the mix. Someone was worried that I would kill Fitz. That's not happening. That will never happen in one of my stories. My heart can't even take the idea. Y'all should have seen me when 2x08 aired. I was a wreck. Killing Fitz wouldn't even be angst for me. It would be total devastation and I can't. As far as angst goes, this chapter is probably as bad as it's gonna get for a while. There are going to be some tears in upcoming chapters but probably nothing compared to this one. With all that said, let's get to the crying. XOXO**

Monday couldn't have been more beautiful. The sun shined blindingly bright on everything and Fitz could swear he heard birds singing. He stood on the train station platform, frowning at the day's insistence on being picturesque. A day like that deserved thunder and lighting, hell and high water. He was leaving behind the girl he'd fallen head over heels for and there was nothing he could do about it. Just a week before, he had been ecstatic about France. But that was before Olivia had breezed into his life like a rain shower during a drought and made everything different. From the moment he met her and peered into those big brown eyes, everything in his life split in two sections: before Olivia and after her. He checked his watch then frowned at his freshly shined boots.

"Don't look so down, love. France is supposedly one of the most beautiful places in the world." Fitz's heart nearly leapt out of his chest at the sound of her voice. He hadn't heard it since the day before when he called her to tell her what time his train was leaving. He'd told her that she didn't need to come, that she didn't have to watch him leave if she didn't want to. But the truth was that he didn't want her to see him so broken. He wanted to remain a hero in her eyes. He turned around and there she was, smiling at him as she stood near the station door. She wore a sleeveless navy shirtdress sprinkled generously with red tulips and yellow sandals. Sunglasses pushed her hair back from her face and that mesmerizing red lipstick rimmed her smile.

Fitz wanted to run to her but he was rooted to the spot, looking at her like he couldn't believe she was really there. He almost couldn't. His arms physically ached, wanting to hold her, but nothing good could come of it. Touching her one last time would shred the little composure he had managed to keep. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to see you off," Olivia replied. She was nauseas with sadness, but she smiled for him anyway, sensing he needed her smile because he didn't have one of his own. He didn't need to know that her insides were tearing apart, that she would miss him so terribly that the thought of it made her throat burn. He didn't need to know that she'd thrown up before she left the tenement because the reality that she was going to tell him goodbye made breakfast impossible to keep down. She hadn't felt that terrible leaving home.

Fitz stood with his hands in his pockets, unable to take his eyes off her. He had thrown up too that morning as he packed his belongings, so violently that a nurse had come to check on him. "Are you going to stay all the way over there?"

Olivia took a few steps toward him on unsteady legs. Fitz took a few steps toward her. They were both a little afraid of getting close again. When she was close enough, Fitz pulled her into an embrace that was so tight that it should have hurt, but it didn't. Or maybe she was just too busy memorizing his scent and the rhythm of his heartbeat to notice any pain. At the feeling of something wet on his chest, he looked down and felt his heart break at the sight of tears streaming down her beautiful face. He pulled a cloth handkerchief from his pocket and wiped her tears. "Don't cry Livvie. It isn't so bad. You'll see. I'm gonna write to you every day. It'll be okay. I promise."

Olivia nodded, hiccupping as she tried to stop crying. She had promised herself that she wouldn't cry in front of him. He didn't need to carry her hurt with him. She squeaked, "I'll write back. Every time. Every day."

She could tell from the tightness of his voice that he was trying not to cry. He said, "Smile. Please. I can't leave if you don't." Olivia tried her best and ended up giving him a lopsided smirk. It was all she could manage. Fitz lifted her off her feet and swung her around, making her laugh in surprise. He set her down and managed a smile of his own. "That's better."

The train's whistle blew as it approached the station. Fitz let Olivia go and took hold of her hands, loving the way they fit so snugly inside his own, like they were made to go there. Almost desperately, he asked, "Did you mean it when you said you'd wait for me before you married him?"

"Yes," she answered immediately, looking at him with clear, earnest eyes. The train roared to a stop in front of them.

Fitz couldn't bring himself to actually say goodbye. The word just wouldn't come out. He squeezed her hands and she squeezed back, knowing what he meant. He said, "We probably shouldn't kiss goodbye."

"We've done worse." There was a glimmer of a smile on her face. They never broke eye contact as he lowered his face to meet hers and she tilted her head back. Unlike Friday night when their kisses were feverish and needy, this one was tender and held more words than either could ever say aloud. She inhaled his scent: strong soap and shaving cream and the industrial-strength detergent the infirmary used. She prayed she would never forget it, or the way his heart thudded so strong in tandem with her own. The train whistled, signaling that it was time to board and Olivia pulled away. A fresh wave of tears clouded her eyes and burned her throat. She croaked, "I'm gonna go. I can't watch you leave. I just wanted to come and…"

She still couldn't say goodbye, but he knew what she meant. He wanted to make her feel better, but he didn't have anything to give. The little strength he had was keeping his own tears from spilling. It hadn't occurred to him until that morning that he could die, that he might never see her face again, that she might not ever hear him say "I love you." He opened his mouth and closed it again. Her sad, little girl voice and wide, wet eyes were a knife in his heart. Olivia had to look away from the searing pain on his face. All he could reply was, "Okay."

Olivia looked at him with glassy eyes and gave his face one final caress before turning and going into the station. Fitz stood rooted in the spot, staring at the ground, only letting a few tears fall before he pulled it together. He knelt to pick up a hairclip that had undoubtedly fallen out of her hair when he'd spun her around. It was a big bobby pin, studded with round rhinestones. He stared at it for a long moment then shoved it deep in his pocket before hefting his duffle bag onto his shoulder and boarding the waiting train.

Olivia cried the whole walk home from the tenement, wiping her eyes with his handkerchief. She took comfort in his scent engrained in the fabric. She was glad that she had asked for the day off because she was in no condition to work. All her strength was gone as she climbed the stairs to her room. Her sobs had dwindled to little hiccups as she entered the room, unintentionally waking Abby.

"Liv?" she half-yawned, blinking awake.

"He's gone," Olivia whimpered. It was like the last nail in a coffin. Telling something else that Fitz was gone, that she quite possibly wouldn't see his face ever again, that he'd left without her saying that she loved him, made everything real. She barely had time to register the burn creeping up the back of her throat before she had to dash to the bathroom. She knelt over the toilet bowl and dry-heaved. Her stomach was empty from her vomiting episode earlier that day. When her stomach stopped wrenching, she trudged back into the bedroom. Abby's heart ached at the sight of Olivia's tear-stained face. She had never seen her tough friend look so tiny and broken. Olivia schlepped to Abby's bed and sat down. She hiccupped and wiped her eyes. It didn't seem possible to cry so much. Abby reached out and rubbed her back. Olivia slumped over on the bed, bringing her knees up to her chest. Her sobs were now just jagged little exhales. Abby scooted over and wrapped her arms around Olivia.

"What was that?" she asked at the sound of a clanging thud of something hitting the scuffed hardwood floor.

"My ring," Olivia answered quietly. "I can't look at it right now."

She had betrayed her fiancé and broken her own heart in the process. She couldn't face the idea of being committed to someone else when her heart was headed for Paris. She guessed that it was some sort of karmic punishment that she had fallen in love with someone outside her relationship and had him taken away from her.

Abby gave her a squeeze. "I'm sorry."

"Me too," Olivia replied.

XXXXX

"You alright man?" Fitz looked up at the sound of someone's voice. A stocky Hispanic man stared down at him with concern.

"Yeah," Fitz answered quietly, moving his bag so the man could sit next to him. He straightened up a little in his seat. "I'm Fitz."

"Huck," the man replied, extending a hand. Fitz shook it. "You leave your girl behind?"

"Yeah," Fitz answered. "How'd you know?"

"I was the same way a few months back. My girl's in Delaware." He pulled a picture of a dark-haired woman making a silly face out of his breast pocket and showed it to Fitz. "That's my Quinn."

"She's beautiful," Fitz complimented. Quinn was beautiful, but no woman would ever appeal to him like Olivia had. "My girl's name is Olivia."

Huck wanted to ask about her but the look on Fitz's face said that he was in no condition to talk about Olivia. He asked, "Wanna get drunk?"

Fitz shook his head. "Empty as I am today, I'd drown trying to feel better."

"Have a drink anyway," Huck replied, offering Fitz his flask. Fitz took it and took a deep drink. The whiskey didn't even burn as he swallowed. He passed the flask back to Huck and turned to look out the window.

XXXXX

The next day, Olivia poured herself a cup of coffee as she prepared for work. She hadn't slept much that night, just tossed and turned and walked the halls. She looked out the window at the sound of a train's whistle and almost burst into tears again. But she bit the inside of her cheek and added a little sugar to her coffee. She left the kitchen and headed back upstairs to get dressed for work.

"Feeling better?" Abby asked when Olivia entered the room.

Olivia sniffed. "I'll live."

She walked over to the side of Abby's bed and picked up her ring off the floor where it had spent the better part of Monday. Abby said, "You don't have to put it on if you don't want to. Do you want me to put it someplace?"

Olivia shook her head. She put the ring back on her finger. "It doesn't change anything. Ring or ring, I'm still engaged."

"And in love with someone else." Olivia shrugged. She was feeling everything and nothing.

"Did you feel this way before Fitz?" Abby watched Olivia pull a uniform from the closet, taking gulps of her coffee.

"I haven't felt right about being engaged since I said yes," Olivia admitted. "We're good friends. I don't know that we're any more than that though. I don't think I ever actually fell for him. I love him, but not like…" She sighed heavily. "I don't want to hurt him Abby."

"Marrying him when he isn't the one will hurt him worse than breaking up with him ever could," Abby pointed out. "Do you want to marry him?"

"I… Everyone's so excited. We're perfect for each other," Olivia replied.

"That doesn't answer the question."

"I want my life to go the way it's supposed to."

"You know, wise is never a word anyone would use to describe me, but it's been my experience that nothing will screw you up worse than the picture of how your life is supposed to look. The only thing that's supposed to happen is that you're supposed to be able to wake up and be happy with the choices you've made."

Olivia buttoned her dress. "Were you and George happy back home?"

"Every day," Abby replied with certainty. "Not all day every day, mind you, but every day."

Olivia nodded. "You are wise, Abby."

XXXXX

The infirmary seemed much bleaker than Olivia remembered. She went about her day in a trance, not really aware of anything or anyone unless they addressed her directly. She went down the row of showers handing out towels to the men waiting and didn't even notice Jake until he took hold of her hand when she handed him a towel.

"What's got you frowning, brown sugar?" he asked.

Olivia blinked at him like she'd never seen him. Her eyes quickly filled with a fire he'd never seen in them. She stepped close to the curtain separating them and said in a deadly even tone, "If you ever call me that again, I'll suffocate you in your sleep."

She sounded so serious that he backed away from her. Olivia moved on, handing out towels. She blinked away tears for as long as she could before she had to run to the bathroom. She didn't even hear Abby come in until her hand was on her shoulder.

"I got you something," Abby said gently. Olivia lifted her head to look at what Abby was pulling out of her purse. It was a Hershey bar.

"Where'd you get chocolate?" Olivia hadn't seen a chocolate bar since she left home. She wasn't sure what exactly the cause of the shortage was, just that the news said that it was in short supply, along with sugar and nylon and a host of other things that people were learning to live without.

"A prostitute. They always have it. They get it from the Italian soldiers," Abby answered. She had been walking to work when she spotted a woman coming out of a recessed doorway buttoning her skimpy silk dress. Upon arriving, she was told by another nurse that Olivia was in the bathroom.

Olivia laughed as she held the chocolate bar. She wasn't even sure what was so funny, just that she couldn't stop. She doubled over, still laughing. Abby knew the laughter was just unshed tears. And suddenly she was laughing too. It was hysterical and maddening laughter, the only way the two of them could mourn Olivia's loss anymore. When they were finally able to stop, Olivia wiped her eyes and gave Abby a long hug.

XXXXX

"Well she slept with you. That means something," Huck assured Fitz as they made up their bunks. Fitz had filled Huck in on his and Olivia's situation after hearing all about Quinn.

"She said she'd wait to see me again when I come home on furlough before she married him. Do you think she will?"

"She wouldn't have made a promise like that if she didn't mean it," Huck replied. He could see how hard Fitz had fallen for Olivia. He liked Fitz, and Huck didn't like many people. He hoped everything worked out for his smitten friend.

"Do you think she'll forget me? My furlough isn't for a while. Do you think she'll go home and fall for him all over again? I mean, she had to fall for him to agree to marry him. And we only spent a week together." Fitz flopped onto his bunk and sighed. "I just wish we'd had more than a week. Maybe if we'd had like a month, I'd feel better."

"Man, you're spinning," Huck said, sitting down on his own bunk. "You didn't wear her down. She jumped in head first just like you did. If she's feeling anything close to what you're feeling, her guy back home isn't gonna be her guy for too much longer."

"You're right. I just… I've never been in love before."

Huck blinked. "You've never been in love before? You're like 30!"

"I've just never fallen. Maybe I've never taken long enough to really _be_ with a girl. I don't know. All I know is, when I saw her, I just felt this pull inside me. It was like I'd been waiting my whole life for her to show up."

Huck chuckled at Fitz's goofy grin. "Damn man, you've got it bad."

Fitz stared up at the ceiling, wondering if Olivia was missing him as much as he was missing her. He lay around all day, sleeping off and on into the wee hours of the morning until he couldn't lie down anymore. He sat up and fished out his flashlight to write to Olivia.

**A/N: So our babies are going through it without each other. Next time we'll see what Fitz has to tell Olivia and if she'll keep her promise to write back to him. Don't forget to leave your thoughts. XOXO**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Happy Sunday everyone! I got a PM from someone who was offended by Fitz calling Olivia "brown sugar" in chapter 7, saying that it was racist and fetishizing her race. As a black woman myself, I didn't have a problem with it. The tone of that exchange was humorous, as evidenced by their laughter, so I didn't expect anyone to be offended by it. Ironically, the person didn't pick up on the objectifying tone in which Jake used the same nickname in chapter 8 so I'm assuming they were just looking to criticize something. Oh well. That being said, everyone is welcome to voice their opinions on anything they'd like. I love hearing from you guys. **

Olivia walked around the infirmary, checking on her assigned patients. She had to bite her lip to keep from crying at the sight of someone else occupying his cot. Luckily, the patient was on a morphine drip so she didn't have to interact with him. She smiled at Colonel Finch, Fitz's friend, who was sitting on his cot working on a crossword puzzle.

"Afternoon, Colonel Finch," she greeted.

Stephen looked up at her, smiling at her though her smile didn't reach her eyes. "Hello. You can call me Stephen if you'd like."

"I'll remember that," she replied. "How's your arm feeling?"

"Good. I can use it much better since I got the sling off," he answered.

"Any nausea? Constipation? Appetite trouble?"

"None at all," he replied. He watched as she filled out his chart then said, "I'm sorry about Fitz."

Olivia looked up at him in surprise. She was sure she'd never given away anything about their relationship. She wondered what Fitz had told the colonel about them. "It's alright."

"No it isn't," he replied knowingly. Anyone with eyes could see what was between Fitz and the nurse.

Olivia sighed and blinked away the tears that pricked her eyes. She agreed, "No it isn't."

"I didn't mean to upset you," he apologized when she sniffed.

Olivia shook her head. "It's not your fault. I'm just a little… It's okay."

Stephen frowned at her back as she walked away. He wished his friend hadn't had to leave the girl behind. Olivia had to step outside and take a few deep breaths to keep from crying. She was surprised to find Jake outside as well, leaning against the building as he smoked. He looked up at the sound of the door shutting and smiled at her. Olivia almost turned and headed back inside. She didn't have the strength to be bothered with him.

"Hello," he greeted, exhaling smoke.

"Hello," she replied, leaning back on the wall and hugging herself.

"Heard your boyfriend's gone." She looked at him, expecting a sneer on his pudgy face, but he was just looking out at the street.

"He wasn't my boyfriend," Olivia insisted. It wasn't technically a lie. But Ballard didn't need to know the truth.

"Whatever," Jake replied with a shrug. She looked up at him when he offered her a cigarette.

"No thank you."

"Just take the cigarette. You look like you could use it."

"I'd rather not."

"Come on. I'm not hitting on you. Only an asshole hits on someone with a broken heart." Olivia looked up at him, trying to read his face. He didn't seem to have any ulterior motives so she took the cigarette and put it between her lips. Jake lit it and watched as she took a drag off it. She looked so tiny and hurt.

"Thank you," she replied. He watched her for a moment then patted her shoulder before going back inside the hospital. Olivia was surprised to say the least. The last person she'd ever expected compassion from was Jake Ballard. She was just finishing her cigarette when a plane passed overhead and made her heart hurt. She went back inside the hospital.

XXXXX

Olivia climbed the stairs to her bedroom slowly. She was so tired, so worn out from missing Fitz all day. Before him, work hadn't bothered her at all. Now everything reminded her of him. It was only Wednesday. He had been gone two days, but it felt like months. In her room, she unbuttoned her blood-stained uniform. A private who had just lost his left arm had vomited violently enough to give himself a gushing nosebleed that she had unfortunately taken the brunt of. She threw the uniform in her hamper and collapsed on her bed in her slip. She wasn't sure how long she slept, only that it was nearly 5 in the evening when she awoke. Abby's freshly folded laundry sat on her bed. Olivia guessed she was washing her delicates. She sat up on her bed and her heart leapt at the sight of a light blue envelope on her nightstand.

She read the French return address with glassy eyes. She smiled at the slightly slanted left-handed writing. Her palms were sweaty as she carefully tore open the envelope. She pulled out the folded letter and smiled when a slightly wilted tulip fell from the folds of the blue paper. She unfolded the letter carefully, wondering what splendor it held for her.

_Dear Livvie,_

_ It's Tuesday. It'll be Wednesday when you get this but I just wanted you to know that I meant it when I promised to write every day. My brand of romance is more of an on-the-spot sort so these letters won't exactly be Lord Byron but I'll try my best to make you smile. _

_It rained all day today. It's still raining, probably will be tomorrow too. I guess that's alright. I'm gonna catch up on my reading. Have you read _A Farewell to Arms_ by Ernest Hemingway? If you haven't, you should. I'm reading it for the second time in as many days. You should read _The Sun Also Rises_ too. _

_I miss you. It's only been a day, but I do. I miss your drawl. And your laugh. God, I miss your laugh. I hear it in my dreams. I've worn everyone out humming that song from the hotel. What was the name of it? I'd like to buy the record when I get a chance. I wish I'd brought my sax so I could play it, but that would probably get me kicked out of the barracks. _

_Paris is beautiful. Those bastard Nazis tried to destroy it, but it's still the most beautiful place I've ever been. The rain makes all the city lights blurry, like a watercolor painting or something. I'll send you a picture when I get a chance to take one. _

_I suppose I should wrap this up. It's late and I'm probably writing complete nonsense. Did I mention that the mess hall doesn't have French fries? I couldn't believe it. Apparently they aren't French. They're Belgian. Who'd have guessed? God I miss you. I've said that already which means my thoughts are circling so I should definitely wrap this up. I promise to write tomorrow. _

_Love,_

_Fitz_

_P.S. I have your hair clip, the one with the little diamonds on it. It fell out of your hair at the train station. I'll give it back when I see you again. I promise to keep it safe. _

Olivia wasn't sure if she felt like laughing or crying as she held the letter. Everything about it was just so Fitz. She laughed, laughed until she was crying with the letter pressed to her chest. She almost didn't hear Abby come in the room.

"Liv?" Abby stood in front of her, peering down at her with concern. "What is it?"

"I got a letter from Fitz," Olivia answered, wiping her eyes with his handkerchief, clutching the letter.

"What does it say? Did something happen?" Abby pressed.

"No." Olivia hiccupped, trying to stop crying. "He's just so…_wonderful_."

She smiled at the letter as she held it out to Abby. Abby took the letter and read it, expecting something heavy and gut-wrenching that had caused Olivia's tears. When she finished the letter, she looked at Olivia with an amused smirk. "This is literally the kind of nonsense you can only write to someone you love. Anyone else would be pissed at the waste of paper and the mailman's time."

Olivia laughed as she took the letter back, putting it back into the envelope. "I love his nonsense." She chuckled wryly. "I can't stand Eddy's though. It drives me crazy. It's always something his mother put in his ear."

"What's with them? Did she breastfeed him too long or something?" Abby asked with a smirk.

Olivia chuckled. "I don't know about that, but after his father died, Eddy became her whole world. To her, he's a god and no one is worthy."

"And you expect to compete with that dynamic?" Abby questioned.

Olivia looked up at her friend with a confused expression. "There's no competition. We don't occupy the same space."

Abby scoffed. "You said he's her whole world. How well do you think she'll handle you being his?"

"It's not the same," Olivia insisted. She had often found herself annoyed at Edison's deference to his mother, but she'd always thought the apron strings would sever when they were married. It hadn't even occurred to her that his mother would be a permanent fixture in their everyday lives.

"Liv, take it from someone who's dated her share of mama's boys, you should run for the hills if you even get the inkling that that's the dynamic you're walking into. You'll always be second. Even after she's dead. You'll never make him happy. There's no fixing mommy issues."

"Does George—"

"God no," Abby interrupted. "His mother lives in Florida and we only see her at Christmas. We send funny postcards back and forth and keep it at that. He and his mother have a detached affection for each other that I thank God for every day."

Olivia frowned, suddenly horribly annoyed. She could have hit someone, preferably Edison. "Oh goddamn it!" she snapped, slapping the bed with her hands. "How is it we ended up talking about Edison and his damn mother? Honestly, it seems like everything in my life revolves around him these days! As soon as people see this damn ring, they ask about him. Like my life didn't exist before he proposed. Goddamn bullshit is what it is!" Abby gave a surprised laugh at Olivia's rant. She'd never heard her genteel friend swear before. Olivia was suddenly on her feet, pacing back and forth between hers and Abby's beds. Abby sat on Olivia's bed and watched as her friend had what she guessed was Olivia's first bitch fit. "It amazes me that he can eclipse me without trying. I'm always his fiancé, Olivia, instead of Olivia, his fiancé—like my name is a secondary characteristic in terms of our relationship. _Fucking bullshit_." She stopped and looked at Abby. "It sounds petty and small to characterize our whole relationship by the way he introduces me but it says so much about us."

"It's not petty, Liv," Abby assured.

Olivia began pacing again but stopped abruptly. "No. It is. But I've earned the right to be petty. I've put up with his stupid jokes and his damn mother and _his_ fucking pettiness for a whole year without so much as a cross word. I straightened my hair for him for fuck's sake!" Abby looked confused. Olivia explained, "It's chemically straightened. You put—That's not even the point! The point is that he thought it looked nice and he kept talking about it until I did it." She sighed. "And he doesn't mean any harm, mind you, but he can only relate to the world in terms of himself and it makes me so mad I could just—" She gave a harsh aggravated exhale.

Abby was thoroughly impressed with her friend's rant. Olivia was always so sweet and put-together. It was nice to see her cut loose. With a grin, she said, "I'd offer to take you for a drink but you're so fired up whiskey is the last thing you need."

Olivia huffed as she went to her closet and pulled out the tulip-covered sundress she'd worn to see Fitz off. She put it on, buttoning it quickly then slipped on her yellow sandals. "I don't need a drink. Whiskey makes my stomach hurt. I'm gonna go for a walk before I do something fucking insane like hop on a train to Paris and never go back home."

Her hands shook a little as she took her purse off the closet door's knob. With a silly grin, Abby complimented, "You're sexy when you say fuck."

And suddenly Olivia was laughing, so hard that she had to lean on the closet doorframe for support. She had never been so worked up in her life. But it felt good to finally say what she was thinking. All her life, her mother had told her what a lady "should" do. She decided her mother was wrong. Another first for her. She decided that the only things a lady should do and be were who- and whatever the fuck she pleased. She wiped happy tears from the corners of her eyes. "Oh Abby, I've gone off the deep end, haven't I? I've become a loud-mouth bitch, haven't I?"

"It's about time you joined the ranks. I was beginning to think you were a lost cause," Abby replied with a grin."

Olivia put her purse on her shoulder. "I'll be back. Or maybe I won't. We'll see."

She tucked Fitz's letter into her purse then left the tenement, not intending to go anywhere in particular. She just needed to walk around and clear her head. And to miss Fitz without anyone seeing her do it. She didn't want anyone to know how much she missed his face.

She stepped out into the evening air. It smelled like rain coming. She wondered if that was a little gift from God so she and Fitz could share the raindrops. As she walked around the small city, she thought of the night they'd spent together.

He had let her steal the covers to stave off the chilly night breeze, and held her tightly to keep her warm, his body cocooned around hers. When she slipped from his grasp to use the bathroom and shut the window, she had returned to find him sitting up in bed, looking around for her. The night's full moon made his skin luminous. He had grinned, brushing his errant curl back from his face as she crawled back into his arms, placing a kiss on her forehead as she nestled against him. They had awoken entangled at sunrise and made love quietly so they didn't wake anyone, a surprisingly Herculean task as they both discovered erogenous zones on the other's body. He groaned throatily when she slid his ears between her fingers. She wasn't sure how loud she moaned when he caught her earlobe between his teeth and tugged on it gently, making her back arch as she straddled him. His arms hooked underneath hers, holding onto her shoulders so he could control their agonizingly slow pace that drove her crazy. She'd begged him to stop torturing her only to beg for more of the same treatment within the next breath.

She was so lost in her thoughts that she nearly collided with a man and his gelato cart. She recognized him as the man she and Fitz had bought gelato from when they went to lunch. He smiled, recognizing her.

"Ah, cherry for you!" he boomed, already digging around in his cart.

"No," Olivia replied, stopping him. "I want the café this time."

"Like your boyfriend!" He nodded, grinning at her. Olivia wasn't sure if she should correct him. There was no need to explain her complicated romantic involvements to an ice cream man.

"Uh, yes," she agreed as he scooped gelato into a cone. She produced a dollar from her purse.

"No charge," he insisted, pushing her hand away. "Is gift. From friend."

Olivia smiled at him as she put her money away. "Thank you. Uh, _grazie_."

The man nodded, waving at her as she walked on. Olivia licked the gelato and could swear it tasted like Fitz. She smiled, making a mental note to tell him about her gelato when she wrote back to him. She pushed her bangs back from her face, a smile again coming to her lips when she remembered that he had her favorite hairclip. She had no doubt that he would keep it safe until they saw each other again.

She walked until the sun went down then headed back to the tenement. Abby and some of the other nurses had gone to a bar. She was glad she'd missed them. Abby would have insisted she come along and she would have gone but wouldn't have had any fun. She wanted to wallow in her feelings for Fitz.

She took paper and a pen from the nightstand between her and Abby's beds then went to the kitchen to sit at the table to write back to him. If she got the letter in the mailbox first thing in the morning, there was a chance that Fitz might get it the same day.

XXXXX

Fitz was half-asleep, _A Farewell to Arms_ open and splayed on his bare chest, when someone shouted that there was mail. He looked around groggily. It was Thursday night. He wondered why they were getting mail so late. It usually came around lunch. But things seemed to be breaking down all around him. People were tired. The war was becoming bigger than life itself. Nazi forces were weak but refusing to surrender and opposing forces were tired of the bloodshed. What was at first heroic and exhilarating had become a soul-stealing dark cloud among all the troops on both sides. Fitz was tired of seeing young men on both sides dying in heaps like animals. Medical forces were doing their best, but there were just too many injured men to attend to them all. Fitz hated having to leave behind comrades too injured to be helped. He had seen more death than he ever wanted to know was possible.

He put the book down and sat up, yawning as he pulled on his undershirt. A private—undoubtedly the scrawniest young man Fitz had ever seen—was dragging a burlap sack between the bunks, handing out mail. The young man—Teddy, a boy, really—couldn't have been any taller than Olivia and she probably could have given him a run for his money in a fight. Fitz felt bad for him. He looked out at everyone with huge green eyes from underneath long blonde eyelashes. His head had been shaved, making him seem even smaller and paler. His uniform was too big and he seemed generally petrified of everyone. Fitz had actually hugged him after one particularly tough skirmish. The young man had burst into tears when they returned to the barracks, a few men short as some had gone to the infirmary and others had met their maker, and Fitz had felt so bad for the boy that he gave him a hug and took him for his first drink.

Teddy got to his bunk and pulled out a white envelope, smiling as he handed it over. "It's from Olivia."

Fitz broke into a huge grin. He hadn't been expecting a letter from her until the next day. Teddy handed him the letter. "Thanks man."

"If there's a picture in there, can I see it? I really wanna see this girl that's got you going in circles."

Fitz smirked. "She does not have me going in circles."

Teddy scoffed. "Man she'd leading you around by the nose and she's not even in the same country as you."

Fitz laughed. He talked about Olivia constantly. He couldn't help it. Thinking of her was the only pleasurable thing he had to do those days besides reading. "Don't you have mail you should be delivering? Hop to it so you can go eat. Your bony ass is liable to blow away the next time it storms."

Teddy laughed as he dragged the bag on. He couldn't lift it. He could barely hold his gun level. His presence on the front lines was a testament to the military's desperation for bodies. Even with the draft, there weren't nearly enough healthy young men to accommodate the war's needs.

Fitz looked down at the envelope, smiling at Olivia's loopy girlish handwriting. He tore open the envelope and pulled out the thick pink stationary inscribed with more of her neat script. Huck grinned at his friend from his bunk on the other side of the room.

"Letter from Olivia?" he asked, his grin dangerously close to a schoolboy sneer.

"You are seriously five seconds from warning me about getting cooties," Fitz replied with a smirk.

"Hurry up and read it. You've gotta have some hot-off-the-presses Olivia news to regale us with at dinner," Huck teased. Fitz smirked as he unfolded the paper.

_Dear Fitz,_

_I'm sorry about the rain. It smells like rain's coming here too. I hope it comes soon. It's ungodly hot here, almost like summer back home. But there are no lightning bugs and that's just tragic. I'm sorry about the non-French French fries too. How did they even come to be known as "French" fries if they're Belgian?_

_I hope y'all aren't out in the rain. I would hate for you to get sick when you're so far away from the best nurses in the world. _

_I haven't read _A Farewell to Arms_ but I'll definitely look for it. It must be good if you're reading it again. I hope I like it as much as you do. _

_I miss you too. You've been gone three days and I miss you like it's been months. I miss your curls, and your smile. There's someone new in your bed and I can barely stand it, especially now that your friend Stephen is getting ready to leave. He's going to Japan in a few days. I'm sure I'll miss him too, but not like I miss you. I don't think I could miss anyone the way I miss you. _

_The name of that song is "Dream a Little Dream of Me." I can't remember for the life of me who sings it though. I'm glad you like it so much. It's my favorite song. When I get home, I'll mail you the record if you'd like. _

_I'm sure Paris is beautiful. I've always wanted to go there. Especially after I read about all the expatriates who lived there in the 20's. I always imagined it was the most exciting place to live. Maybe I'll get there someday. _

_I have your handkerchief. I promise to take care of it like you'll take care of my hairclip. It's been getting quite a bit of use these past few days. _

_I ran into the gelato man. I had coffee-flavored ice cream this time. It was so good. Do they have ice cream in Paris? Is it as good there as it is here? _

_I've started to ramble so I should probably finish up. It's late here and I worked today. I don't know if it's the heat or the long hours I've been putting in but I can't seem to get rested. I'm permanently ready for bed these days. _

_Tell me more about Paris. Or anything you want to tell me about. I get the feeling you could write to me about the color of the sky and I'd read it a hundred times just to hear your voice in my head. I should definitely go now. I'm writing absolute nonsense now. _

_Love, _

_Olivia_

Fitz's smile was immovable as he read Olivia's letter. He could hear her twang as he read her girly handwriting. He caressed the paper with his thumb. He missed her so much. He reread the letter a few more times, trying to get as much Olivia from it as he could. The bell for dinner rang and he folded the letter carefully before heading to the mess hall with the other soldiers.

"So what did she say?" Teddy asked eagerly as he followed Fitz to a table. Fitz smirked at his little friend. The boy barely had any facial hair. They sat down at the table and Fitz pulled the letter from his pocket. Teddy read it quickly then looked up at Fitz. "I don't get it."

"What's there to get? I wrote. She wrote back." Fitz asked, watching as the boy picked at his stew. "Eat it. Don't pick at it."

"What is it?" Teddy asked, eying the soup doubtfully.

"It's food. Kid, you're gonna have to wolf it down now and think about it later," Fitz admonished. Teddy nodded and began eating the stew. It didn't taste as bad as it looked.

"So you and her were together for a while before you came here? Is that why the letter sounds like that?" Teddy asked, now shoveling the stew in his mouth. He hadn't eaten much of anything in the week he'd been in Paris, mostly because the appearance of the food made him nauseas. "I just imagined love letters would be more romantic than that. At least that's how they are in books, I mean."

"We met in Italy. She's a nurse. I took a bullet to the shoulder. We spent a week together while I was in the infirmary." Fitz smiled. "The letter sounds like that because we're not characters in a book, kid. We're real people living in the real world. We don't have to be all flowery all the time. We just want to hear from each other."

"Getting the new meat updated on the legendary Olivia?" Huck teased as he sat with them.

"He asked," Fitz replied. Everyone in their platoon had heard of Olivia at least once. Fitz talked about her more than anything else.

"So what's she like?" Teddy asked. The young man didn't have a girl of his own back home so he was terribly curious about everyone else's.

"She's magnificent. She's really smart, and really funny, and probably the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. She plays the cello, and the piano, and she paints. She's got these big brown eyes and the cutest nose. And she's always smiling. She's got the prettiest laugh I've ever heard. It's the kind of laugh that makes you laugh because it's so happy."

"Wow. How'd you land a girl like that? I can't even get girls to look at me back in Wyoming," Teddy replied.

Fitz grinned, giving Teddy a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "You're just a kid. Give it time. When I was your age, girls weren't exactly clamoring for me either. I was too shy to breathe in their direction. But as I got older, it got easier. Women are people just like us. It doesn't take some great plan to woo 'em. Just be decent and respectful."

"Listen. Girls love to talk. All you have to do is sit there and pay attention and you're golden," Huck advised.

Teddy nodded, absorbing all the wisdom as he finished his stew, quickly moving on to his ham sandwich.

Later that night, Fitz found himself reading the letter again, humming that song. On the bunk next to him, Teddy slept peacefully, stuffed from dinner. Huck sat up with a flashlight, writing to Quinn on the other side of the room.

"Are you finished with that book I lent you?" Fitz asked.

"Yeah. It was pretty good," Huck replied before tossing Fitz the book. He looked at his weathered copy of _A Farewell to Arms_. He hoped Olivia loved it as much as he did. He opened it, laying the front cover flat on his thigh so he could write her a little note.

_Stars shining bright above you_

_Night breezes seem to whisper "I love you"_

_Birds singing in a sycamore tree_

_Dream a little dream of me_

**A/N: So our babies got their first letters from each other. And we learned a little more about Olivia and Edison's relationship. The next chapter is going to jump ahead a few weeks to the day Olivia goes home and we'll finally meet Edison in person. Don't forget to leave your reviews!**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: This chapter was a chore to write. Edison stresses me out something terrible. But I got it done. We're going to get a look at the dynamic of their relationship. I had to mix in letters from our babies to even be able to write Olivia and Edison (whose names don't combine into a nice ship moniker if that tells you anything about whether or not they should be together). I didn't like them in canon and I can't really stomach them in this story either. But I have to write what needs to be said to keep the story true to my vision. So let's get to it. **

Olivia looked around the room that had been her home for six months. All her things were packed, waiting by the door for her journey to the airport the next morning. She and Abby had already said their tearful goodbyes because Abby was working the night shift and wouldn't be home until after Olivia had already left. There was only one more thing she needed to do before she went for her last walk around the city then watched her last sunset. She went to the kitchen and sat down at the table.

_Dear Fitz,_

_I'm flying home in the morning. Planes make me so nervous. I'm excited to go home though. I've missed my parents terribly. But I've changed so much, and Macon is such a small place with such small minds. I feel like I'm a different person now, like I've outgrown everything and everyone. Settling back into that slow pace will be a challenge to say the least. _

_But you'll be with me soon enough and I suppose that's comfort enough. I just wish things weren't so hard. I miss you so much. And I don't want you worrying about how I'm holding up without you because you've got more important things to be concerned with, but I'm having a hell of a time. I never imagined I would feel so deeply for someone. _

_I miss your face. I just want to spend a little while staring at you. And maybe a little more time holding you. I miss your scent. I want to make you laugh, and take you out for ice cream. I insist on paying this time. Consider it me being charming and chivalrous. I'm sure you're smiling now. I can picture the goofy grin on your face. You're so ridiculous, in the best way imaginable. I can't wait to show you a Georgia moon, or watch you have your first Georgia peach. I can't wait to show you the lightning bugs making the fields glow at night. I can't believe y'all don't have them in California. Hopefully, you'll get leave before fall so you can see them in all their glory before it gets too cold. It's okay if you don't though. I just want to see you. We could spend your whole leave on my back porch and that's be just fine with me. _

_Love, _

_Livvie_

_P.S. My home address is 920 6__th__ St W, Macon, Georgia 45302_

She dropped the letter in the mailbox, hoping it reached him before the day was over.

XXXXX

Olivia stood on her toes to see over the crowd of people all trying to reunite with their loved ones. She wove through hordes of people, wondering where her parents were.

"Liv!" She turned at the sound of her father's booming voice and hurried toward it. Suddenly she was five-year-old bounding off the front porch at the sound of her father's car rumbling down the street. Tears leapt to her eyes and blurred her vision when she finally laid eyes on her parents.

"I missed y'all!" she cried, trying to hug them both at once, something her little arms weren't capable of but were attempting anyway. She hadn't realized just how much she'd missed her parents until she saw them.

"We miss you too Livvie," her mother, Maya, said as she held her daughter at arm's length to look her over. Olivia was a little thinner, her hair was a little longer, and she was a little tanner from the Italian summer, but she still looked like the same Olivia. Because her daughter had somewhat spontaneously decided to enlist in the medical corps, Maya wasn't sure what would come home to them from the war zone. She was relieved that Olivia didn't appear to have changed much. She knew of her daughter's restless soul, and it truly worried her sometimes. Olivia seemed too big for the world and though she had tamed the fire within her as she matured, it still leapt out from time to time. There were times when she wished she'd birthed a child with a gentler spirit.

"I hope some of that love extends my way," Edison said, announcing his presence. Olivia had been so ecstatic to see her parents that she hadn't noticed him. She smiled at him as she moved to hug him. He didn't look any different, but then Edison never changed. He was as routine as sunrise and sunset. He gave her a warm hug, murmuring, "I missed you so much."

He had missed her. Once he got over the shock and dismay at her decision to go to Europe against everyone's wishes, he realized that he cared a good deal more for her than he'd originally intended. Now that he had her back, he would make sure that she never ran off again. Being without her made him unhappy in a way that he didn't care for at all. When she was his wife, she wouldn't do such rash things. The structure of having a husband and becoming a mother would give her the kind of discipline she needed to be the kind of woman he knew she could be. She'd see once he got her to quit nursing. He only wanted what was best for her.

Olivia smiled at him, eyeing him expectantly. After six months, you'd think she was entitled to a little more passion than a hug from someone who wanted to spend the rest of their life with her. Edison understood immediately and planted a kiss on his fiancée's waiting lips. Olivia had expected more than five seconds of contact but she knew Edison well enough to know that he was attempting to portray some sense of decorum in front of her parents. As if Maya and Eli didn't know that the two of them had been intimate. She almost rolled her eyes at him but brushed off the annoyance quickly. She was home. Soon she would be eating her mother's cooking and cracking up at her father's corny jokes. Nothing could spoil her mood.

XXXXX

Olivia opened her valise and took out the ribbon-bound bundle of letters that meant more to her than anything else she'd brought back. She closed the suitcase then placed it in the back of her father's black Ford before getting into the backseat next to Edison. Edison glanced at the stack of envelopes. He didn't realize he'd sent her so many letters. She certainly hadn't sent that many back to him.

"Are all those from me?" he asked.

"Not all of them," Olivia replied, glancing down at the bundle. None in the bundle were from her fiancé but he didn't need to know that. She hadn't technically lied to him. He'd written to her twice a months. Some of the letter _could_ have been from him. That is, if she'd saved them. Nothing in them was worth keeping to remember.

"Who are the other's from?" he inquired innocently.

"A friend," she answered. Again, not technically a lie. She and Fitz were friends…the kind of friends who made love until she was boneless and drunk with love. The bundle of 21 letters were all from him, one for each day they'd been apart. Some of them were long and filled with his rambling thoughts about everything and nothing. Some were stories of his days in Paris. Some were memories of California. A few were just a line or two, when things were bad: "I'm alright, baby. How are you? Tell me everything." She always sent him the longest replies she could write to those letters, pages and pages of anything she could think of to take his mind off the ugliness going on around him. She knew he didn't have much to smile about, so she lent him her happy thoughts. She told him all about Georgia: the beaches, the honeysuckle, the smell of peaches in the summer, the fireflies at night. She would build him a world of dreams to remind him that there were better days ahead.

She held Edison's hand weakly when he reached for hers. It wasn't right, but he deserved at least that after all she'd done.

XXXXX

After much too brief a reunion over dinner, Maya and Eli cleared out of their home, intent on going to a double feature to give their daughter and her fiancé some privacy the Popes assumed the two lovers would be desperate for. Olivia wished they'd stayed. She'd missed them terribly. In some respects, they were her dearest friends.

She stood at the sink washing the dinner dishes her mother had insisted she leave. She heard the sound of jazz fill the house as Edison turned on the radio and was thankful they weren't in the same room. She wasn't sure what had changed for him, but he wouldn't leave her be for more than a few minutes. He'd held her hand all through dinner, chattering incessantly about the wedding even as she gave responses that were noncommittal at best, and wrapped his arm around her as they sat on the couch after having coffee with her parents. He was smothering her with his closeness. She'd never disliked his touch before, but now it seemed there was some neediness to it that turned her off completely. It was like he was determined to never let her be free of him again. She felt like a coyote about to chew off her arm to get free.

Edison walked into the kitchen and smiled at the sight of Olivia at the sink. Her time away had trimmed her figure but the yellow cotton sundress she'd changed into before dinner still hugged her petite frame in the most tantalizing of ways. He wrapped his arms around her waist, his lips close to her ear. Olivia's hands faltered, a sign of her annoyance at his proximity that he mistook for arousal.

"You know, those can wait. We haven't been alone in a long time," he murmured.

"No we haven't," Olivia agreed. She wasn't exactly brimming with excitement for this portion of the reunion. She'd known since early that morning that this was going to happen and had been dreading it since he'd kissed her at the airport. But she owed him. Not just because they'd been apart so long but because of what she'd done with Fitz. If Edison stirred a fraction of the desire within her that Fitz did, she might not have been so reluctant to be with him.

In her bedroom, she slipped off her dress and her plain cotton undergarments under his intense gaze, hoping things didn't take too long. She wanted to sit on the back porch and play her cello. She wouldn't truly at home again until she did. She pulled the covers back on her bed, the sheets loving laundered and sweet-smelling curtesy of her mother in anticipation of her arrival. She didn't watch Edison undress nor did she pay any attention to the crinkling of the condom wrapper or his weight dipping her mattress. She wrapped her arms around his neck, making sounds at all the right times, thinking that this wasn't what she wanted. She couldn't sign up for a life so lacking in passion.

She was dismayed when things seemed to take longer than usual. It might not have been so bad if Edison knew anything other than achieving his own release. A sexual mastermind he was not. But she supposed it was nice enough, especially when she wedged her hand between their bodies and rubbed her firm bundle of nerves the way Fitz had done. She also discovered that Edison took direction well enough to actually get a little fire going in her stomach when she told him to go faster. She found herself deliciously close to reaching her peak, visions of her and Fitz together dancing in her head. It was terrible to be thinking of another man when she was with her fiancé, but she was sure she wasn't the first woman to do so. She could feel her end nearing and had to bite her lip to keep from calling Fitz's name. If she squeezed her eyes shut as tightly as she could and blocked out Edison's panting, she could almost smell Fitz's scent and hear him groaning her name. She was so close that she could feel the electricity stirring up within her. Just as the magic moment threatened to undo her, she felt Edison shudder and her hopes of release were dashed by his own explosion. His weight pressed her into the mattress and she frowned at the ceiling.

"Shit," she hissed, annoyed. Edison looked at her with a goofy grin, having misunderstood the context of her utterance.

"I know. That was better than ever," he replied as he rolled off her. Olivia blinked at him but said nothing. He wouldn't have understood if she'd explained anyway. She slipped out of bed and was pleased to find her robe hanging in its spot on the back of her door. She tied the belt tightly around her waist then went to her purse and retrieved a pack of Marlboro's she'd bought at the airport. She pulled a cigarette from the pack and rummaged around in her purse until she found the box of matches. She went to her window and opened it, letting in the warm night air that smelled of honeysuckle and magnolias. She'd missed that scent. Italy had nothing on it. She lit her cigarette and took a long drag, exhaling a plume of smoke. As she took another, feeling her nerves settle, she was unceremoniously disturbed from reminiscing about her first cigarette by Edison asking, "When did you start smoking?"

"About a month ago," she answered absently. "I don't do it every often, just once in a while."

"You know, those are bad for you," he chided.

Olivia smirked at him as she exhaled smoke. "Really? I had no idea. Being a nurse, I'm not really privy to health-related news."

Edison blinked at her. He had never cared for her sarcasm. It really wasn't charming on a woman. "Not funny."

"I'm not a fucking comedian so I'd imagine it wasn't." Olivia looked back out the window, taking another drag. They had been together less than 12 hours and he was already wearing on her nerves. She wondered why he'd never been taught just how golden silence could be. She guessed it was that his mother was interested in everything he had to say. Trudy Davis had never explained to her son that everything in the world didn't exist in terms of himself. She put out her cigarette on the windowsill, tossing the butt out the window, then stood. "I'm going to take a shower."

Edison watched her stalk into the bathroom, wondering what had gotten into her. He shrugged, assuming it was just a feminine flight of attitude. In the bathroom, Olivia busied herself scrubbing the flight and Edison off her body. She bowed her head under the shower's delightfully warm water and washed her hair, delighting in the fact that her mother had bought her favorite peppermint shampoo. After a few minutes, she felt herself relax.

When she emerged from the shower, she felt a lot better. She chastised herself for letting Edison get her all riled up. She emerged from the bathroom and her eyes nearly bulged out of her head at the sight of Edison standing at her dresser, examining the bundle of letters. Rushing to snatch them away from him, she exclaimed, "Don't touch those!"

Edison looked at her in surprise. "Sorry. Didn't know they were sacred."

Olivia rolled her eyes at his sarcasm. "They're private."

She took them and put them in her nightstand drawer. Edison watched her curiously. "You washed your hair. Isn't that going to reverse the permanent?"

"Yes. I like it better this way." She leveled him with an indignant stare, daring him to question her.

"I suppose it's pretty that way too. I just liked it straightened is all," he replied as he stepped into his pants. He watched as Olivia went to her purse and retrieved another cigarette before resuming her spot on the windowsill. "I don't think I like this new habit of yours."

"Can you get off my back? I'm an adult and I'll smoke if I want. Honestly, you're like a crotchety old woman sometimes…" She was beginning to get a headache from the tension of being around him.

"I just don't like the idea of my wife smoking," he tried to explain. Olivia bristled at him calling her his wife. She wasn't his wife. She didn't belong to him. More importantly, her smoking and being his wife didn't have anything to do with each other.

"I'm not your wife!" she snapped. "And even if I was, I'd still smoke if I wanted to." She glared at him. "You know, sometimes you act like someone died and made you king."

"I think I should go," he said as he buttoned his shirt.

"I think you're right," Olivia agreed. She would normally have apologized at that point, or at least told him that he didn't have to leave just yet, but at that moment she wanted nothing more than to be rid of him. She knew her annoyance with him was due in part to her guilt about Fitz, but mostly he was just pissing her off. He had the worse habit of getting under her skin then acting like the victim when she finally snapped. The old Olivia would have just shrugged it off, but the new one, the one who had seen Abby put any and every one in their place in such a fashion that no one dared treat her like she was some timid little girl, would do nothing of the sort. He would treat her like an adult or he'd have to take himself elsewhere.

She didn't look away from the window until she heard the front door close, announcing his departure. Only then did she get up and retrieve the bundle of letters from her nightstand and slide the top letter from under the blue ribbon. She had received the letter from Fitz just as she was leaving the tenement headed for the airport. She had nearly cried at the luck of the mailman's timing. She had stopped herself from reading the letter until she got home, wanting to have some part of him in her bed when she was all alone with no one inquiring about its contents. She grinned at his slanted handwriting then opened the envelope.

_Dear Livvie, _

_I'm sure everything will be fine at home. The important people will embrace your change. As the saying goes, 'Those who mind won't matter, and those who matter won't mind." As long as you like the new you, nothing else is important. If it means anything, I like the new you. I'd probably have liked the old you too. Granted my opinion is horribly biased because you make me 13 and love-struck again. _

_I can't wait for my leave either. I want to do everything you want and then some. We should do everything in the world together. I want to take you dancing again, or just do anything that lets me touch you. I want to kiss you, and hold you, smell your hair. I miss the way you smell. I miss your little hands and your big brown eyes and the way you laugh. If I get leave when I requested it, I'd like to take you to the Fourth of July fireworks. But like you said, we could sit on your back porch and I'd be happier than a fat kid in a candy store. I just want to be with you, whatever that means. _

_If you'd have me, I'd really like to make love to you again. The first time was so sudden—amazing, mind you—but sudden. I'd like to take my time with you if you'd give me another chance. I wouldn't normally bring this sort of thing up in a letter but I can't stop thinking about it. I even dream about it. I just want to feel your skin and be that close to you again. I've never felt anything close to that with a woman. _

_I should wrap this up. I've said more than I should, but I mean every word. I can't wait to see you Livvie. It's the only thing that keeps me going these days. _

_Always thinking of you,_

_Fitz_

Olivia finished the letter, blushing deeply at the last part. She'd thought it was just her. She'd felt a little dirty thinking of sex with Fitz all the time. But she couldn't get away from thoughts of his skin rubbing against hers and his hot hands clinging to her wantonly. She put the letter on her bed then put on underwear and a white nightgown before going downstairs and onto the back porch to play her cello. She played "Dream a Little Dream of Me," deciding it would be their song regardless to what happened between them.

**A/N: Try as she might, Liv can't get Fitz out of her system. That wouldn't be a problem if Edison didn't exist. But he does and she feels obligated to uphold commitments. Still, Fitz is going to show up soon and throw everything into a tailspin. But will it be enough keep Olivia from "should-ing" all over herself? Pause for my shame at that joke. I'm such a nerd. Next chapter we're going to meet Edison's mother who I'm even less thrilled to write about. Until then, leave your thoughts! XOXO**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Olivia was a little mean to Edison in the last chapter. I didn't even realize it until I reread the chapter after I posted it. She had been dreading their reunion forever so she was sort of on high-alert for any foolishness on his part. She also felt guilty about Fitz. She was on edge that he would somehow pick up on the cause of the change in her demeanor and was subsequently being a little paranoid. She didn't mean to be quite so snappy with him but she was desperate to not lose the new Olivia she discovered. **

**No one enjoyed Olivia having sex with Edison. I had a really hard time writing it because I'm only into Olitz sex, which is why it was so brief and vague. Still kind of turned my stomach but I digress. Honestly it was written to showcase the dynamic of their relationship before she enlisted. Everything happened on his terms because Edison can't cope with life any other way. Also, a guest review mentioned it was odd that her parents left them alone to have sex. It was mentioned in the story that in some respects her parents are more friends than authorities in her life. It was done because it was a special occasion of sorts. Also, she and Edison are engaged. They didn't just leave her alone with some random. **

**A few reviews are wondering how Fitz and Olivia will do things when they get together. The story is set in Jim Crow Georgia, but there was also quite a bit of focus shifted from domestic matters to the on-going war. Not to mention that there were fewer young, able-bodied men around to cause much of a stir because of the draft. There was still tension, and there will be discussions of race issues when Olitz is reunited and possibly a confrontation but they will be doing some public things together. **

**There won't be any Big Gerry in this story. There was no need to bring that kind of confusion into what's already a complicated story. I'm not sure if I mentioned it, but Fitz's parents are dead. There's only him and his sisters Celia and Tess, who aren't going to be major characters. They'll probably only be mentioned in passing. **

**Olivia will not get pregnant. There will be no "Who's the father?" drama in this story because that kind of situation to me is just cheap and easy storyline created to atone for a lack of necessary conflict in a story. She and Fitz used condoms, as did she and Edison. Honestly this just isn't the time for a baby. She and Fitz aren't even technically together and she and Edison have enough trouble without throwing a baby into the mix. **

**Edison's views are beyond chauvinistic. It turned my stomach as a feminist to even construct a character like him but art is suffering so I did what I had to do. He's also something of a narcissist. He can't relate to the world except in terms of himself. **

**Olivia's hair has changed. At first it was like it was in **_**Ray**_**, but now it's sort of like her hair in **_**Django Unchained**_**. **

**Now that I've rambled endlessly, let's get to it. **

The jazz club hummed with action. There were women everywhere. Every time Teddy thought he spotted the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen, he'd see another one who changed his mind. Fitz watched with an amused smirk as Teddy's head whipped back and forth, following woman after woman. Fitz sipped his Scotch, nudging Huck then nodding at Teddy as he seemed to hone in on a redhead near the bar. She wasn't much bigger than him and probably not any older.

"I'm gonna talk to her," Teddy announced, downing the rest of his beer to give him courage.

Fitz put a hand on his shoulder, keeping his young friend in his seat. "Not her."

"But she's perfect," Teddy insisted, practically salivating at the sight of the redhead's silk stocking-clad thighs. Fitz and Huck laughed at the naïve boy's infatuation.

"She's a prostitute, man," Huck explained, pointing out the money stuck in the elastic band of the woman's left thigh high.

"Oh. Shit." Teddy slumped in his chair and signaled for another beer.

Fitz leaned over and gave Teddy a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "When's your furlough?"

"In two weeks. I was thinking of going to Spain. They got beautiful girls there," he answered.

Fitz grinned. "Nah. I'm gonna do you one better. My little sister Celie just turned 18. Why don't you go to California and meet her?"

Teddy's eyes nearly bulged out of his head. "You mean it man? You'd really fix me up with your sister?"

"Well you're harmless as all hell, and she's been complaining about being lonely. Couldn't hurt. She and Tess'll treat you just like family. They might even put some meat on your bony ass."

"Do you think she'll like me? What's she like? What does she look like?" Teddy couldn't believe his luck.

"She'll like you. You remind me a lot of her to be honest. That's probably why I took to you. You're both real quiet and shy but smart as whips. She's a little taller than you, and she's got green eyes, and strawberry blonde hair, and freckles. She's gonna wanna go for long walks and take you to bookstores and out for ice cream and all that." Fitz smiled at the enchanted look on his friend's face.

The band took the stage and began to tune their instruments. Fitz watched curiously as the sax player picked up his instrument then put it back down and launched himself down the side stairs, running for the bathroom. From his speed and the pained look on his face, he wouldn't be back any time soon.

"Any sax players out there? Ours is trying to figure out which end his dinner is gonna come out of," the lead singer asked the mumbling crowd.

"I'll do it," Fitz volunteered. He hadn't played the sax in months and he was itching to do it. He turned to the table, pushing his half-finished Scotch to Teddy. "Drink up and ask one of these girls to dance, kid."

Teddy picked up the glass and smelled the liquor then put it down, making Huck laugh. Huck nodded at Fitz. "I've got him."

Fitz walked to the stage and took the sax player's stool. The lead singer, a tall, graying black man, nodded at him. Fitz took up the sax and cleaned the mouthpiece with his shirt. They played a few songs, getting the club's small dance floor packed with people. Fitz smiled at the sight of Teddy dancing energetically with a leggy brunette. After their set was over, a French reporter approached Fitz.

"Can I take your picture?" he asked in heavily accented English. "I'm doing a story on American soldiers mingling in French life."

"When will that picture be out?" he asked after the reporter snapped his picture.

"Tomorrow's paper," the reporter answered. He pulled out a notebook and pen. "What's your name?"

"Captain Fitzgerald Thomas Grant III, U.S. Army Ranger." He grinned proudly.

"How long you been here?"

"I've been in France for a month. Before that I was in Italy, and before that, Berlin."

"Any family back home? What about a girl?"

"I've got two sisters, Celia and Tess, in San Francisco." His eyes softened and his smile became wistful. "And my girl, Olivia, is in Macon, Georgia."

The reporter wrote down everything, nodding and making his shock of red hair flop, before scurrying out of the club to take everything to his editor's office.

XXXXX

The rain finally broke. Fitz snapped awake at the sudden silence. It had rained nonstop for a week in Paris and finally it seemed God was through drenching them. He sat up and stretched, glancing over at Teddy's cot. The young man was poring over _For Whom the Bell Tolls_. He looked up at the sound of Fitz's cot creaking.

"The sun's out," he said. He'd never seen so much rain. Wyoming had its rainy season, but nothing like that.

"How would you know? You haven't moved from that cot since I gave you that book," Fitz teased. Teddy had begun the book at dinner the night before and hadn't removed his nose from it since.

Teddy chuckled. "Heard from Olivia?"

Fitz took the letter from the nightstand and handed it to his little friend. He'd already written back to her. Teddy took the letter and read it. The paper smelled like honeysuckle and magnolias, like a woman. He liked her girly handwriting. It was pretty, like Fitz's sister Celia's. He had read her letters too. She was funny and seemed sweet. Or maybe he was just projecting because he was so eager to meet her. Fitz was good people, the best kind of people, and Teddy imagined Celia was the same and maybe even better because she was a girl. He finished the letter then looked at Fitz as he handed it back. "You never seen fireflies?"

"There's none in California," Fitz replied, accepting the letter from Teddy.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Shoot."

"Do you love her?"

Fitz looked back at his young friend. He did love Olivia. He admitted, "Yeah I do."

"Did you tell her before you left? Or in any of your letters?" Teddy looked at him with those wide eyes of his. "I'm only asking cause, if a girl wrote to me like this, I'd send her pages and pages of 'I love you's' just so she'd never forget."

Fitz shook his head. "You're too young to get it, kid. This isn't a fairytale. Things can't just be spoken into existence. There's no point in saying it when she belongs to someone else. It would just make things harder."

Teddy picked the letter up off the little metal stool between their cots. "This is her belonging to someone else? Is that what you got from reading this? I'm only asking cause maybe I read it wrong."

"I'm just saying that she's having a hard time without thinking I'm pressuring her to choose me over him," Fitz explained.

Teddy shook his head. "Man you've got it all screwed up. This is her asking you to fight for her. She's asking you to choose her. She can't choose you if she doesn't know you're gonna choose her back. You've gotta tell her. Not just because you're feeling it, but because you don't have anything to lose. Except her. If he's at home, promising her the whole nine yards, and all you're giving her is maybe's contingent on a furlough you may not get, she's gonna go with him. Tell her before you shy your way out of the girl of your dreams."

Fitz blinked at his young friend. He hadn't even thought of it that way. "That's damn good advice kid."

Teddy smiled. "You think smart as I am that I could catch a woman of my own."

"Let's just hope Celie likes you. Then you can find something new to complain about."

XXXXX

*one day later*

Olivia smiled at Edison as he stood on her front porch. When she spotted his mother in the front seat of his black Ford pickup, her smile fell a bit. She and Trudy Davis had never exactly gotten along. They were coldly affection to each other for Edison's sake, but both greatly resented the other's presence. Trudy knew her son was a catch—more than that, really—and that he would have a woman in his life at some point, but she wished he'd chosen one more like herself, a woman who truly grasped his potential for greatness and would help him reach it. Olivia had her own lofty goals and, in Trudy's opinion, their relationship was a train headed in two different directions.

"Ready?" Edison asked, hoping she was. His mother hated to wait.

"Yeah," Olivia replied, pushing the screen door open and closing the wooden door behind her as she stepped onto the porch. It was pleasantly warm, the recent June heatwave broken for a bit. Edison stood before her and she blinked at him, expecting a kiss or hug, but he just smiled and reached for her hand. She rolled her eyes at the back of his head as they walked to his truck.

"Hi Trudy," she greeted pleasantly as she climbed into the truck. She wasn't thrilled about being squeezed between Edison and his mother. She wasn't thrilled about going to lunch with Trudy at all, but she couldn't think of a polite way to tell Edison that she didn't want to be around his mother. She was already having a hard enough time keeping him away. A day hadn't passed since her return that she didn't see him at least once. It seemed he had decided she would never be free of him again, as if his presence would make her never want to go back overseas. She felt like a trapped coyote contemplating chewing her arm off to get free.

"Hello Olivia," Trudy replied with an icy smile that Olivia returned.

The ride to the restaurant was mostly quiet except for Edison's idle chitchat with his mother. They had lunch at Trudy's favorite restaurant, The Blue Bayou, a tiny bistro in downtown Macon boasting the best peach cobbler below the Mason-Dixon.

"So Eddy tells me you're still dead set on a spring wedding," Trudy said after their food arrived.

Olivia grimaced at her steaming plate then looked up at the older woman's heavily made up face. "Spring is my favorite season."

"I know that dear, but Eddy and I were talking, and we just went on and on about how beautiful a fall wedding would be. Maybe October, when the leaves are changing, and the days are still just long enough to get a gorgeous sunset," Trudy suggested. She had her heart set on a fall wedding for her son.

"Well Eddy and I talked, and we agreed on a spring wedding," Olivia insisted, looking pointedly at Edison for some support. He remained mute, staring down at his plate as he shoveled food into his mouth. She frowned at him then looked back at his mother. Trudy cast a look at her son and he raised his eyes but didn't say anything. So went the rest of lunch: both women looking for Edison to show them which had his support and subsequently the upper hand in the situation. When Olivia realized, he wasn't going to side with either of them, her annoyance flared up to the point that she had to go to the bathroom to settle herself before she made a scene.

Trudy Davis stared at her son. "Are you sure she's the one you want Eddy? She's so stubborn. She'll never let you run your own house."

"She's strong-willed but in a good way, Mama," Edison insisted. He'd often found himself annoyed at Olivia's stubbornness but he didn't see it as a deal-breaker for them.

Trudy shook her head. "You two are going to be at odds for the rest of your lives. I think a gentler woman would do you a lot better. What if she decides to up and run off again? What are you going to do if she leaves you high and dry?"

"She won't. She's not going anywhere. I'm not letting her leave again Mama" Edison implored. Olivia would never leave him again if he had anything to say about it. Before Trudy could say anything else, Olivia reappeared. She seemed much calmer. She also smelled of the sweet spice of nicotine. Edison frowned at his fiancée.

"What?" she asked, wondering if he could smell the smoke on her. She had had a mint and spritzed herself with a little perfume but she sensed that he could still smell it.

"You were smoking," he replied.

"I had a cigarette. It's my first one in days." Olivia wasn't a chain smoker like most nurses. She only had a cigarette when she missed Fitz the most. Arguing with Trudy while Edison sat idly by made her miss him like crazy. She knew he would have defended her against anyone, even his own mother if necessary. He was just that kind of man.

"I wish you'd stop."

Olivia smirked at him. "I wish you'd stop."

Edison shook his head, casting a plaintive look at his mother. Trudy just smirked. Olivia watched the exchange with rage boiling in her stomach.

The ride to Olivia's house was much quieter than the ride to the restaurant had been. Trudy sat in the middle between the couple, wedging herself between them mid-fight physically and figuratively. She was almost certain that with a few more pointed exchanges, Olivia and her son would be no more and he could find the kind of girl she knew was right for him. He had scarcely stopped his truck before Olivia threw the door open and hopped out indignantly.

"Bye," she chirped, heading up the walkway to her front door.

"I'll come by later," Edison called.

"Okay." She stormed into the house and closed the door behind her.

"Bad lunch?" Eli asked from the couch where he was reading the newspaper.

"Ugh," was all Olivia could reply as she headed for the back porch to play the piano. Eli smirked at his firecracker daughter. They were still in the same places when Edison returned a while later after dropping off his mother at her house. Edison reached the mailbox just as the mailman did, accepting the Popes' mail before going into the house.

"Mail Eli," he announced, handing the mail to his soon-to-be father-in-law. Eli took the bundle of envelopes and flipped through them. He plucked one that wasn't addressed to him out of the stack and held it out to his daughter's fiancé. "Mail from Paris for Livvie. She's on the back porch."

Edison took the envelope and looked at the French return address, wondering who "F. Grant" was. He couldn't remember Olivia ever mentioning anyone whose name started with an F. He asked, Eli, "Who does Liv know in Paris?"

Eli shrugged. "Probably a nurse she worked with."

"Probably," Edison agreed before heading toward the back porch. He could already hear the piano drifting from the screened-in back porch as he walked through the kitchen. He smiled at the sight of Olivia playing intently. She stopped and looked up at the sound of the back door slapping shut. Edison gave her a smile. "Hi Liv."

"Hi Eddy," she replied tightly. She was still fuming from lunch. She'd hoped he would change his mind about coming over, but of course he hadn't. In his mind, he hadn't done anything wrong. In Edison's opinion, when women were fighting, you stayed out of it.

He walked over, holding out the envelope. "You got this from Paris." Olivia looked at the blue envelope in his hand, willing her own not to shake as she took it from him. He asked, "Who's it from?"

"A friend," Olivia replied vaguely. Not technically a lie. She and Fitz were friends. Edison waited for her to elaborate, or open the letter to read it, but she just set it atop the piano and went back to playing. Olivia kept her eyes on her sheet music as she listened to Edison sit in her mother's old rocking chair.

"My mother wants to know what day you want to go look at flowers," he said gently, hoping she just agreed.

"I don't need to go look. I want lilies." She didn't want to look at flowers for a wedding she wasn't sure was going to happen.

"I told her that. She's hoping you'll change your mind and choose something a little more fitting for a fall wedding."

Olivia's fingers stopped twinkling the keys. She turned to look at her fiancé's almost blank face. She hated the glazed look he got when he talked about his mother, like everything she said was faultless and therefore didn't require thought on his part, only parroting. "I'm hitting my limit with your mother, Eddy."

Edison dreaded the contention between his fiancée and his mother. They were both very headstrong women. It was a quality he adored in both of them, separately. "Liv she doesn't have a daughter. This is her one chance for a wedding. Maybe you could just let her have one thing."

"I could _what_?" Her voice was much louder than she'd intended. "I just got back from _war_ and your mother is jumping down my throat about _my_ wedding and you're telling me to let _her_ have one thing? I should—" She took a deep breath, steadying her nerves. "I think you should leave before I decide to call the whole damn thing off."

"Call it off? Over a few suggestions?" Olivia blinked at his dumbfounded face. As usual, he had missed the whole point. He shook his head. "You know, before you left, you liked my mother's suggestions."

"Well I don't anymore." She stared at him almost coldly.

"You've changed. That place changed you." He just didn't get it.

"Yeah, war has a tendency to do that," she replied before going inside, the screen door slamming behind her. She stormed through the living room where Eli was going through the mail and stomped upstairs to her room, slamming the door behind her. Edison walked into the room a moment later and looked at Eli.

"Well you pissed her off," the older man observed.

"She's talking about calling the wedding off," Edison replied.

"Do you think she really will?" It wouldn't have surprised Eli if Olivia did. She was a different woman than she'd been before she went to Europe.

Edison shrugged. "I don't know. She's so different these days."

"She's been to war. It changes you." He had always thought Edison was a little too stiff for his lively child, that she could do better, but Olivia seemed to be happy enough with him so he let it be. It seemed "happy enough" wasn't going to cut it for Livvie anymore.

"Well I'm gonna go." Edison stuffed his hands in his pockets. "I'll come by tomorrow I guess."

"I would give it a day." Judging by the force with which Olivia had slammed her door, she wasn't going to want to see her fiancé for a while.

Edison left. He understood that war changed you but he didn't understand why it had changed Olivia so much. She never seemed to want to be around him, or listen to him, and she'd practically crawl out of her skin if he touched her. He hoped she got over whatever was bothering her. The last thing he wanted was to deal with a failed relationship.

XXXXX

In her bedroom, Olivia paced in circles, fuming. She could have hit someone, preferably Edison. She wouldn't have turned down taking a swing at his mother either. She knew a lot of her reactions were manifestations of guilt, but mostly he was just pissing her off. He was mute when he should have been on her side, and too vocal when he should have kept his damn mouth shut. He just wasn't working for her any more. She couldn't stand being around most of the time, especially if he was droning on about his day, and she wanted to crawl out of her skin every time he touched her. His hands were always so needy, pulling on her flesh and her clothes like a child who didn't want their mother to leave. It made her stomach roil with disgust. There was a time when she could shake off her annoyance with him because she knew he didn't mean any harm, but now she couldn't. It ate away at her insides until she snapped.

When she'd walked off her stress, she sat down with a huff and picked up Fitz's letter off the nightstand. She took a few deep breaths, only then noticing the difference of the letter's envelope. It was bigger than the others and he had included a parcel, a book she guessed from the weight.

**A/N: Things between Edison and Olivia are deteriorating rather rapidly. And Fitz and Teddy are bonding. I love writing their relationship. Plus, Teddy might be getting himself a Grant girl if all goes well. What will Fitz's letter say? Did he take Teddy's advice to tell Olivia how he really feels? Will Olivia have the guts to say it back? Don't be shy! Tell me what you think! XOXO**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Olivia could be a little nicer to Edison, especially as it's she who's changed and not him, but Edison could also be a bit more understanding. He keeps pointing out her change, but he hasn't asked why she's changed or tried to accommodate her in the least. The only thing he's done is try to guilt or bully her into being the Olivia she used to be. **

**Edison's mother is something, isn't she? Y'all really weren't here for her. Not to worry, she won't be back for a while, if at all. **

**I'm so glad y'all love Teddy. I added him as sort of an afterthought and fell in love with his character. **

**The reunion is coming up in a few chapters but a few things need to fall into place first. Also, there's going to be some unbelievable mess that takes place very shortly after the lovers are reunited that I have to get just right.**

Olivia ran her fingers over the book cover's raised lettering. It had been in his hands. He had read and loved it. She opened the front cover and smiled at the words scribbled on it. _Stars shining bright above you. Night breezes seem to whisper I love you. Birds singing in a sycamore tree. Dream a little dream of me._ She ran her fingers over his slanted left-handed script, wondering if he'd smiled as he wrote the lyrics that now brought a bittersweet smile to her face and tugged at her heartstrings whenever she heard them. She flipped through the book and a newspaper clipping fell out. She picked it up and her heart leapt at the sight of his smiling face. She couldn't remember if he'd been so handsome when she last saw him or if she was just imagining that he looked better than ever because she missed him so much. She ran her fingers over the picture, trying to caress his face off the page. She read the caption: "Army Ranger Capt. Fitzgerald Thomas Grant III lent a helping hand to the jazz band after the saxophonist fell ill Saturday night." She could feel the warmth of his smile as she read through the interview. A lump welled in her throat at the last lines of the article: "Waiting for him in the States are a pair of younger sisters, Tess and Celia, in San Francisco, and Olivia, the love of his life, in Macon Georgia." She read the line over and over, not sure if she could believe her eyes. There, in black and white, he'd called her the love of his life. He'd told the whole world that he was crazy about her. She put the article on her nightstand, intending to frame it, and unfolded his letter. She smiled at his hand-writing. She didn't know it was possible to love the way a man wrote.

_Dear Livvie, _

_I got a letter from Stephen today. He sends his love from Tokyo. He was hoping you'd follow me to France. I told him he's crazy. My friend Teddy sends his love too. He's read all your letters and I think he's close to being just as crazy about you as I am. But who can blame him? I'm sending him to California to meet and hopefully fall in love with my youngest sister Celie. Remember her? She's the one who plays the cello like you. _

_I miss your smile. I wish I had a picture of you. I probably don't need one though. I'd just spend all day staring at it. Or showing it to everyone with eyes. I've told the whole platoon about you. I just can't help myself. They say home is where the heart is and talking about you is close to home as I can get._

_I played the sax at a jazz club last night. I haven't touched one in months. I thought I'd be rustier than hell but I was pretty good if a crowd of drunken soldiers and prostitutes is to be believed. Well after I played, a reporter interviewed me. I sent you the article. I hope you like it. _

_I love you Livvie. I shouldn't say it given our situation, but it's true. Sure as there's a sun in the sky, I love you. I'm in love with you. You're the love of my life, Liv. I've been head over heels for you since the moment I saw you. When I come to Georgia, I'm gonna make the biggest play of my life for you. I was thinking that I should just be passive and hope for the best, but a very wise young man told me that waiting and hoping isn't the way to win the girl of your dreams._

_I suppose I should wrap things up now that I've quite possibly said way too much. _

_I really do love you,_

_Fitz_

He loved her. He loved her on purpose. Someone as amazing as him had fallen for her. She couldn't stop repeating the thought to herself. He loved her. And she loved him too. There was no denying it. She could tell herself any number of lies she'd like, but she loved him. It was a bittersweet moment. She was in love with someone halfway around the world and engaged to someone she had been avoiding like the plague for nearly a week.

"Can I come in?" She nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of Edison's voice. He was like some movie villain. She'd thought his name too many times and now he'd materialized.

"Sure Eddy." She got up, the letter folded in her hand, and went to her underwear drawer to add it to the stack with the others. Edison entered the room like he was afraid she'd do something to him. He sat gingerly on her bed, looking at her to see if she looked like her old self. Her hair had completely reverted to its natural springy curls, pulled back from her face in a low bun.

"Feeling better?" he asked.

Olivia smirked as she turned around to look at him. "I wasn't sick."

"Liv…" The phone ringing cut the tension. Olivia left the room and went downstairs to answer it.

Edison picked up the newspaper clipping off the nightstand and stared at the smiling soldier in the picture. He wondered who he was and what it was about the article that made Olivia save it. He looked at the French name of the newspaper and was even more confused. Where had she gotten a foreign newspaper article? Who had sent? Why did they feel the need to send it? He began reading the article, skimming for details about the soldier. "The San Francisco native soldier has been in the heart of the war in Berlin, in the hot bed in Italy, and now resides in the remnants in France." Edison wondered if the man had been in Italy with Olivia, if they knew each other. He guessed that they didn't. Where would she have met him? But that made the question of why she had the article even more glaring. He read on, skipping around to learn more about the saxophone-holding soldier, until he got to the end of the article. "Waiting for him in the States are a pair of younger sisters, Tess and Celia, in San Francisco, and Olivia, the love of his life, in Macon, Georgia." Edison stared at the article for a long moment. Surely not his Olivia. There was no way. But it seemed too much of a coincidence that she had saved or been sent an article in which a soldier just so happened to mention an Olivia in Macon. He looked at the tall man in the picture. No. Olivia wouldn't cheat on him. And definitely not with a white man. She knew better than that.

Olivia returned to her bedroom, carrying a laundry basket loaded with her clothes. She set it on the bed and looked at Edison, not registering the article in his hands, only the look on his face as if she'd sprouted a second head. "What?"

"Who's this?" He held up the clipping and her eyes widened.

"A soldier I took care of in Italy." Not technically a lie. "Abby sent it to me." Definitely a lie.

"Why?" Something wasn't panning out but he couldn't—rather he didn't want to—put his finger on it.

Olivia shrugged. "Familiar face in the paper I guess."

She wondered when she'd become so adept at lying. Edison put the article down on the nightstand. "Says he got a girl named Olivia who lives here."

His tone wasn't accusatory but his eyes were fishing for something to confirm a suspicion he wasn't willing to admit. Olivia blinked at him. "And?"

"Just a funny coincidence." He shrugged.

"Are you implying that I'm the girl he's talking about? Because I'm certainly the only Olivia in Macon, right?" How could she have been so careless to leave the article laying out in the open? Granted, she hadn't known he was coming over, but she should have been more careful than that.

Edison smirked at her sarcasm. "No. You're not the kind to cheat. And certainly not with a white man. You think too much of yourself to be some white man's bed wench."

Olivia wasn't sure if she'd just been insulted or complimented. Edison's words had a habit of leaving her confused that way. Still the constant connotation of condescension that tinged his voice when he talked to her made her stomach roil with animosity. "I suppose you're right." She sniffed. "Did you need something Eddy? I'm a little tired and I'd like to take a nap."

"Actually I did. I want to talk to you about the wedding."

Of course he did. "What about it?"

"Why you don't want to talk about it."

"I'm just settling back into things here, Eddy." She began folding her laundry, dreading the talk she knew was coming. She should have ended it at the airport, but something always held her back. "I'm starting a new job. I'm getting back in touch with old friends. There's a lot going on."

"So the wedding isn't important?" He frowned at her.

Olivia sighed. "I didn't say that. Why are you in such a rush to get married? We've only been together for a year. We've only been engaged for six months. Honestly sometimes I think you only proposed because I was leaving."

If he was completely honest, he had only proposed because she was leaving. It was always something he planned to do, but her leaving made him anxious, like he was losing her. So he did what he had to do to keep her. If she hadn't been so keen on leaving him behind, he'd never have had to rush things. If he was being perfectly honest, everything was her fault. But he didn't want to blame her. She was only a woman and subject to fickle flights of the heart. "It sounds like you're just having cold feet, Liv."

"Well if you know that, why are you pushing me?"

"Because you need to be pushed. You'll see. When we lock this thing down, it'll all make sense and you'll feel better about everything."

Olivia blinked at him. "So your solution to my doubts about getting married is to get married?"

"I think getting married—living together and having a routine, really—will make things easier for us, so they can go back to how they used to be."

Several minutes passed. Olivia continued folding her clothes. "I feel like we aren't ready to get married, especially not if that's why you want to get married: so things can go back to being the way they were. They're not going back Eddy. I'm not that person anymore. I think if we got married now, we'd wake up and realize we've made the biggest mistake ever."

"That's just cold feet." Olivia moved away from the bed and began putting away her clothes so he wouldn't get up to touch her. She feared she'd turn to stone in his embrace. She wasn't lying to him about her feelings, but she wasn't telling him the whole truth either. "It's no reason to stall the wedding plans."

"It's not cold feet!" Her voice was louder than she'd intended. "I'm terrified that I'm not myself with you, Edison! That I'm going to marry you and never know real passion! I want ridiculous, inconvenient, painful, life-changing love, and I don't know that that's what we have! I look at you—you hold me—we talk—and it's all so bland! I've changed! Haven't you noticed? Haven't you noticed that things aren't the same between us?"

"Of course I've noticed. I just thought that maybe you'd get over whatever's bothering you and things could go back to normal." He stared at her like she was a stranger.

Olivia wrapped her arms around herself. "Well they won't, Eddy."

"Where do we go from here?"

"I don't know." She really didn't.

"I'll see you later." He was suddenly by her side, his lips on her cheek, then walking out of her room. She heard the door close as he left. She stood in the same spot for a long moment. She wasn't sure what had just happened. She'd been as honest as she could and he hadn't responded any differently. Abby had been right when she said that Edison just didn't get it. She looked down at her engagement ring. He had pushed and she'd refused to budge. They had reached the kind of impasse that relationships didn't normally survive. Were they even still together? She slipped the ring off and put it on her dresser, deciding she'd wait a few days to see how she felt about wearing it.

XXXXX

"Now Celie and Tess are going to be waiting for you when you get off the plane. Tess is real tall with dark hair. She always wears red lipstick. And Celie's real short with reddish hair. She'll probably be grinning and looking around for you." Teddy nodded, memorizing Fitz's descriptions of his sisters as they stood near the gate where he plane to California boarded. "Make sure you write to me when you get a chance to tell me what's going on."

"I will. First thing." Teddy shifted his backpack on his back as the announcement to board played over the intercom. He blushed crimson. "I'm, uh, I'm gonna miss you man. You're the closest thing I've got to family…and what you're doing for me now is just—"

Fitz cut him off with a hug. He rubbed Teddy's fuzzy head, his scalp still mostly visible as his hair hadn't grown back just yet. "I'll miss you too man. Have a good time. Give my sisters a hug and kiss for me."

Teddy smiled as he and Fitz let go. "Tell Olivia I said hello."

"Will do, kid. Now get on that plane." With a final pat on his thin back, Fitz sent Teddy off to California. As he walked back to the barracks, it occurred to him that he was family to Teddy. He wondered what happened to his real family, if he'd ever had one. Fitz's own parents had died in a car accident when he was 25, leaving him to take care of his sisters, then 16 and 14, and he had felt incredibly alone even though he was an adult. He couldn't imagine being as young as Teddy and being on his own. But none of that mattered anymore. If family was what Teddy needed him to be, he could be that.

XXXXX

"Letter from the missus," Huck announced when Fitz walked into the barracks. He tossed Fitz the white envelope, smirking at the way Fitz stared at Olivia's loopy girlish writing. Fitz sat on his cot and opened the envelope eagerly. He pulled out the picture first and grinned at it. There she was, smiling at him as she lay on a porch swing. Her sweater hung off one shoulder, leaving it tantalizingly bare as she rested her chin on her hand. The other hand held down an open book. He wondered who had taken the picture of her, what was going on that made her smile so happy. He marveled at her beauty. Black and white didn't do her justice, but nothing could ever take away from how breath-taking she was. He got up and walked over to Huck's cot, shoving the picture in front of the book Huck was reading.

"Look," he commanded.

Huck looked over the picture. "She's beautiful man. With eyes like hers, it's no wonder she's leading you around by the nose."

"She is not," Fitz argued. She was and he knew it but he couldn't think of anyone he'd rather go in circles for.

"The hell she isn't. She could sell you a beach house in Idaho and you'd be mad at the ocean for not being where she wanted it."

Fitz laughed. "Whatever man."

He went back to his cot, setting the picture next to him on the bed, and pulled out her letter.

_Dear Fitz,_

_I really like that article. You're even more handsome than I remember. I can't believe you called me the love of your life. I love you too. I'm in love with you too. Sure as cornbread goes with greens, you're the answer to my dreams. That's silly and cliché but it just makes me think of you. I love you. I mean it. And I don't feel bad about it. You make me feel so brave and beautiful, like I hung the moon and lit the stars. _

_Sometimes I wonder if we fell in love with each other by accident, but the things you said in your letter make me feel like we're meant to be. I feel like in a thousand other lifetimes and realities, we'd have found each other and fallen in love. At least that's true for me. Any time, any place, under any circumstances, I feel like I'd find you and I'd choose you. I know you'd do the same for me. You're the love of my life too._

_When you come, I want you to fight for me. I'm going to fight for you too. We've only got a few days to figure out if this thing between us is the real deal or if we're just fools in love. I pray we're more than that. Actually I don't have to pray. I know we're more than that. I pray we can make it work. There's a whole world of strikes against us but I think we can make it. I believe in us more than I've ever believed in anything. _

_I love you too, _

_Livvie_

_P.S. I love that book you sent me. I think it might be my favorite book ever. _

He grinned like he'd slept with a hanger in his mouth. She loved him too. He wasn't crazy. He wasn't a fool hanging onto a handful of moments. She loved him. Olivia Pope, the love of his life, thought he was the love of hers too. Things didn't get any better than that.

He looked up at Huck. "She loves me. She loves me!"

Huck smirked. "Oh shit. You better get Roosevelt on the phone and tell him to call the war off. Who can think of justice when somewhere there's a girl who loves you?"

Fitz laughed. "Has anyone ever told you you're a really shitty friend?"

"I'm just busting your chops man. I'm happy for you," Huck replied. "So are you going to Georgia on your leave?"

"Yeah. She's game to fight for us and I'm definitely up for it. So we've got one week to make or break things," he replied.

"Give her everything you've got man. You deserve the girl of your dreams."

Fitz pulled the little black ring box from his lockbox and took it to Huck's cot. He showed him the glinting marquise cut diamond nestled on the thin gold band. "It was my mother's. Do you think she'll like it?"

Huck looked up at him. "If everything you've said about you and her is true, I think you could propose with a tinfoil ring and she'd say yes."

"I wish the diamond was bigger. My father was always a cheap one. Do you think I should get her a bigger one?" he asked. Huck gave him a familiar derisive look. "I'm spinning again, aren't I?"

"Just a little," Huck agreed. He smiled as he shook his head. "I can't believe you're gonna propose to a girl you only spent a week with, one who's already engaged no less."

"I love her. That's the beginning and end of everything." Fitz put the ring back in its safe place, grateful that Tess had mailed it to him as quickly as he'd asked her to, even though she had balked at his proposing to someone she and Celia hadn't met. Still, she told him that Olivia sounded lovely and that he'd have to bring her to California when the war was over.

**A/N: So Olivia and Edison have hit the rocks big time. Liv even took off her ring. If only things were that simple… Edison's not gone just yet, especially now that he's got some budding suspicions about Olivia's change. Fitz and Olivia have exchanged I love you's. These by far have been my favorite letters to write for them. And Teddy's off to get himself a Grant girl. **

**Up next, Olivia's going to hear from Abby, the original Olitz shipper in this story, and Fitz will hear from Teddy. The next one is going to be letter heavy. We're only two chapters away from the big reunion. I'm probably gonna make those pretty short so I can focus on the moment we've all been waiting for. **

**Don't forget to leave your thoughts! I seriously love hearing from y'all. It keeps the creative juices flowing. XOXO**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: So this chapter was originally going to be one that was about letters from Abby and Teddy. But I couldn't get that one to come out. I will let y'all know what happens to them in an upcoming chapter, but I couldn't wait for my babies to reunite anymore.**

Olivia climbed off the bus at the corner of her street with a sigh. She had worked a double shift and assisted in three births, all with complications. Tired was an understatement for what she was. She'd always thought pediatric nursing was easy. They were just babies after all. She had never been more wrong, or more terrified of children. She walked down the street to her house, thinking that a good glass of wine and a long hot bath would do her a world of good.

She stopped in her tracks when she reached the front steps at the end of her house's walkway. Fitz stood on her front porch, his bags at his feet, a cigarette dangling from her lips. He smiled at her and slicked his hair back from his face. "Hi."

She couldn't reply. She couldn't move. She couldn't even speak. She had always imaged what it would be like when he returned, how she'd prepare for it, what she'd wear, how she would do her hair. But now all that was moot. Because he was back and standing on her front porch like he had been visiting her for months. She didn't know when it happened, but suddenly she was crying, her vision blurred as she raced up the steps and into his arms. Fitz lifted her off her feet, squeezing her tightly as she clung to him.

"You're here. You're here," she blubbered. "I can't believe you're here. I've been waiting forever and here you are."

"I'm here, baby," he replied. She leaned back to look at him then realize how she must have looked and quickly retrieved his handkerchief from her purse to wipe her face. He grinned at her. "Please don't get all gussied up on my account."

Olivia laughed, laughed until the tears started again and she had to lay her head on his shoulder. "I can't believe you're here. How did you get here?"

"I took a plane. Two planes actually. And a bus. Then another bus. Then I walked some." He kissed her forehead. "Baby I'd have walked all the way here from France to get to you if I had to."

Olivia crashed her lips into his, pulling on his bottom lip. She hadn't realized just how much she'd missed him until he was there in her arms. She still couldn't wrap her head around the fact that he was there, in the flesh, staring at her, waiting on her porch like the best kind of present. Fitz hadn't expected her kisses to be so hungry. He groaned at the way her tongue begged for his. When she finally pulled away to catch her breath, he set her on her feet and smiled at her. Olivia smiled back at him, reaching up to wipe her lipstick off his mouth.

"We should go inside," she said, meaning that she wanted to get him alone and naked as quickly as she could.

Fitz picked up his bags then stepped out of her way so she could unlock the door. The moment they were inside, she pushed him back against the door and kissed him hard. Fitz wasn't sure what to make of her voracious appetite for him. Not that he was complaining. Already his hands were working on the buttons on her white uniform. The dress fell to the floor and Fitz relished being able to rub her warm skin. He had waited so long for the feeling of her body again. Olivia's hands fell to his pants and she managed to undo them with surprising quickness. Fitz picked her up and spun them around so she was pressed against the door. He _held onto her with one hand and used the other to push her panties aside. _

_"Do you remember when I touched you here?" he murmured before taking her earlobe between his_ teeth.

"Yes." It came out as a breath because he was teasing her bundle of nerves, making circles around it but never touching the firm bud. Every nerve-ending prayed that he was make contact, just for a few blessed seconds. She let out a throaty purr when he finally began massaging it with his thumb as his fingers slipped into her slick channel. He groaned at how ready she was.

"God you're wet baby," he whispered hoarsely. She ran her fingernails over the veins on his engorged member and he nearly exploded. He slipped his fingers out of her. It was time. He couldn't wait to be inside her any longer. He placed on hand on the door next to her head, using it as leverage so he could plunge inside her to the hilt. Olivia sucked in a large breath. It had been so long since she'd been so full. She bit his shoulder as they both reveled in the reunion that had been months in the making. Her fingers twined in his curls, pulling his face close enough for her to kiss him. She wondered how she had gone so long without the tasting the cigarettes and sweet mint gum flavor of his tongue.

Fitz set a slow, deliberate pace. Olivia knew her back would be bruised from rubbing the mahogany front door but she didn't care. She couldn't care when he was so deep and his lips were clamped on her pulse point. Fitz knew his legs wouldn't hold out much longer. He sank to the floor with her body wrapped around his and lay her back on the carpeted floor. His calloused fingertips gripped the lush globes of her breasts, tweaking the sensitized tips and provoking mewling cries from her lips. He pulled her ankles onto his shoulders and leaned forward until her knees touched her shoulders.

"Mmm." Olivia caught her bottom lip between her teeth. She had never been in such a position, never felt so full and stretched. Fitz couldn't stop himself from pounding her senseless, not when she was begging him to go faster and deeper. Soon she couldn't even beg, only nodding her head when he asked if she was getting what she wanted.

He smirked. She would have to do better than that. "I asked you a question. I expect an answer, Livvie."

Her eyes fluttered open and she looked at him weakly. What did he want her to say? What did he expect her to be able to say when she could feel his strokes in her stomach and her brain had lost the ability to form a complete thought? Fitz stared at her darkly. Her channel quivered at the look on his face. "I asked if you like it. Answer me."

She couldn't make herself talk, not with the pressure building in her core. It wouldn't be long before a gale-force orgasm rocked her body, especially with him rubbing her bundle of nerves between his thumb and forefinger. He leaned over so they were face to face. She reached up and cupped his face, her ragged breaths fanning his face. He kissed her neck, leaving a hot trail up to her earlobe. She gasped when his teeth locked onto it and cursed the day he discovered what it did to her. She was putty in his hands, his cursed hands that were driving her to the brink of insanity. "Tell me you like it. Don't you like it, sweet baby? Do you want me to stop?"

"Please don't stop!" She was surprised by how easily she managed to find her tongue when faced with the possibility of him stopping. "I like it! Oh God, I like it!"

"I know you do." He slowed to a glacial pace, allowing her to feel every sensation. "I know you like it. Cum for me. Show me how much you like it."

Between his voice buzzing in her ear, his tongue on her earlobe, and his fingers toying with her bundle of nerves, her orgasm was nothing short of an explosion, making her tremble so violently that for a moment Fitz was momentarily concerned. She babbled his name like she needed saving before freezing in a silent scream as electricity shot from the tips of her toes up her spine to the crown of her head. He whispered love in her ear, his hand clasped delicately on her neck, as he rocketed toward oblivion. Olivia clung to him breathlessly. How could she have gone so long without his hands and his lips and the weight of his body on hers every night? Her nails made little crescents on his muscular backside that matched the constellation of bruises his left hand made her on her hip. He was wound so tight that all he wanted to do was snap.

"Oh God Fitz! It's happening again!" Her channel spasmed around him. It was so good, so perfect, all he needed to tumble over the cliff. Her nails sank deeper into him and the mixture of pain and pleasure intensified his explosion. He groaned as his teeth nipped her shoulder. She ran her fingers through his sweaty curls as he lay atop her, both of them catching their breath. Fitz finally rolled them over, worried that he was crushing her little body beneath his.

"You changed your hair." He ran his fingers through her the springy curls, smiling goofily. He couldn't believe she was back in his arms.

"This is what it looks like when I don't straighten it," she explained, resting her chin on his chest. She smiled as she reached up trace the grin on his lips with her index finger. He nipped it and she laughed as she snatched her hand away.

"It's beautiful. You're beautiful." He looked down at her gloriously naked body. "You've got one hell of a carpet burn though."

Olivia laughed. She'd figured she would. "And who do I have to thank for that?"

"The carpet." He laughed beautifully and she leaned up to kiss him. She pecked his lips repeatedly.

"I can't believe you're here," she whispered, smiling against his mouth.

"Butt naked on your parents' living room floor no less." They both laughed as she rolled off him.

"We should probably go up to my room. Especially since you can see straight through that front window." She stood and looked around for her underwear. She found her bra on the arm of her father's chair and her panties hanging on the doorknob. Fitz's boxers lay at her feet. She tossed them to him, watching as he stepped into them and pulled them up. She had never seen a man so beautifully made. He gathered his clothes and looked at her with a smile as she picked up her dress and shopping bags.

"You'll have to excuse my room. I wasn't expecting company," she explained as she opened the door and stepped inside. Fitz looked around. The walls were painted a warm pink and books littered every available surface. Her cello rested on its stand in the corner next to a wooden chair. Her bed sheets were floral, her comforter lavender. A white nightgown lay on one pillow. He smiled as he sat on her bed and picked it up.

"You know I sleep in this exact same nightgown." She laughed as she put her bags on her desk. "What did you buy?"

"Just a few dresses I didn't need." She smiled shamefully.

"Show me. I wanna see." She looked at him in surprise. He smiled and ran a large hand over his wild curls.

"Alright," she replied unsurely. Edison never even noticed when she got new clothes, unless something was too low cut or short for his taste. He was worse than her mother at critiquing her outfits. She pulled out a navy sailor-style dress and held it up.

"Cute. Did you get the little hat to go with it?" he asked with a teasing grin.

Olivia smirked as she pulled the hat out of the bag. "Actually yes. My other boyfriend's a sailor. Do you think he'll like it?"

"He'll be buried in it if he comes anywhere near you while I'm around."

"So jealous," she teased with a smile as she set the dress aside. She pulled out a wine red halter dress. Fitz wondered where she would wear something so revealing as he looked at its nonexistent back and the low v neckline. "I normally wouldn't buy anything so sexy but it was such a pretty color that I couldn't resist. I guess I'll wear it dancing. What do you think?"

"I think men are going to be falling all over themselves to dance with you in that dress." He smiled at her. "Not that I'm gonna let anyone else dance with you."

"Is that right?" She walked over to stand between his legs, her hands on her hips.

"That's right." He kissed her stomach, his tongue darting in her bellybutton and making her gasp. He pulled her down on the bed and rolled on top of her.

"If you're thinking of defiling my childhood bed, you can think again mister." She smiled at him darkly.

Fitz just grinned, already slipping off her bra and panties. He kissed her stomach again, swirling his tongue around her navel and making her hips buck involuntarily. Breathing became a whole body task as he trailed kissed down to where she craved him most. He was the only man to ever kiss her there, and before him she'd thought it perverse and a little unsanitary, but his mouth blurred all her thoughts into splashes of watercolors.

"Ohhhh," she groaned when he delivered a torturously slow lick to her center. He groaned against her heat. He had been craving her taste for moths. Her fingers knotted in his hair and he grabbed her thighs to keep them apart lest she suffocate him. Olivia wondered where he learned to do such things to a woman, or if he was some kind of sex god. Whatever the case, he was playing her body like an instrument. He slipped his tongue inside her and the world threatened to go black. Her back arched like she was possessed and suddenly she was babbling his name like she needed saving. He hummed appreciatively when she lifted her hips to thrust against his mouth.

"OhgodyespleaseFitzdon'tstoppleasepleaseplease!" She didn't even recognize her voice as she begged for him to use his magical tongue to push her over the edge. She was so deliciously close. He clamped his lips on her bundle of nerves, tugging on it gently, and everything went black. Fitz's grip on her thighs tightened to keep them from closing around his head as she splintered into a million quivering pieces. Fitz lapped up her sweet nectar, relishing the taste. He smiled up at her from between her thighs. He planted kisses on the inside of her right thigh up to her stomach then between her breasts. He grinned as he covered her body with his before planting a kiss on her lips.

"Would it be too cliché to say I love you right now?" he asked.

Olivia smiled, reaching up to push a sweaty errant curl back from his face. "A little. But say it anyway."

"I love you." She had never seen him smile so big. "I've wanted to say that to you since the first time I made you smile."

"Say it again." She kissed his stubbly chin.

"I love you." She kissed the corner of his mouth.

"Again."

"I love you." She kissed the other corner. "I love you." She kissed his nose. "I love you."

Each capitulation earned him a kiss that was sweeter than the last. He smiled as he nuzzled her neck. "I want you to say it."

She smiled as she lifted his face to nuzzle his nose with her own. "What do I get if I do?"

"You get to hear me say it back."

"I suppose that's enough," she teased. "I love you."

"Say it again." He lifted her off the bed then turned the covers back.

"You said you would say it back." He kissed her pouting mouth.

"I didn't say when. Say it again."

"I love you." He kissed the hollow of her throat, making her eyes close. She leaned back against the pillows and pulled his face into the crook of her neck.

"I love you too," he murmured in her ear.

XXXXX

Olivia's eyes fluttered open and she sat up a little as she yawned. She wasn't sure when she'd fallen asleep, just that Fitz smelled like home and held her in a way she hadn't known she was missing. She smiled as she looked up at his sleeping face. She felt dizzy with love and boneless with satisfaction. She leaned up and kissed his chin, making his eyes open.

"What time is it?" he asked.

She looked at the clock on the wall near the door. "Almost 7:30."

He sat up, pulling her up with him. "I can't believe it's so late. I should probably get going. I'm not really dressed to meet your folks."

"You're not really dressed to leave," she teased with a smile.

"And who do I have to thank for that?"

"You. You undressed yourself." She smiled at making him laugh.

She watched as he got out of bed and went to her desk chair to put on his pants. She pulled a pad and pen out of her nightstand drawer and scribbled down the name and address of a hotel.

"I'm gonna call you a cab and you tell him to take you to this hotel. I'll come tomorrow." She wrapped her arms around him, slipping the paper in his front pocket.

"Hey! Get out of there," he teased when she didn't remove her hand from his pocket.

"Oh I'm sorry. I though I lose something in there." She kissed his neck as she slipped her hand out of his pocket. She watched as he dressed then wrapped her body around him before he descended the stairs.

He smiled at her. "So we have 6 whole days of just you and me."

"Six loooong days. What do you think we should do with all that time?" She ran her fingernails up and down his neck and he gripped her backside as he carried her down the stairs.

She was surprised by her back connecting with the front door. Fitz grinned darkly. "I can think of a few things. Are you ticklish?"

"Terribly. Why?" She smirked at him.

He kissed her collar bone. "No reason. I just might have to tie you down so you can't get away."

"Who said I would run?" She fixed him with a confident stare. "Who's to say you won't be the one trying to get away?"

He suddenly put her down, pressing his core into hers. "I definitely need to go before your parents come home and catch us naked on this floor."

"You should." After an eternity of kisses, she finally managed to call him a taxi that arrived much too soon for their preference.

"Okay. One more kiss then I'll leave." One more kiss turned into three which turned into groping. The cabbie laid on his horn and they finally pulled away.

"See you tomorrow," she promised.

Fitz smiled. "I can't wait."

XXXXX

Olivia held up the red dress she'd bought on a whim, trying to decide if she should pack it. It was perfect for dancing, but she didn't want to send the wrong message. But what message was that? That she was beautiful and sexy and on the arm of a man who loved her until she bloomed? She smiled as she folded the dress into the suitcase. She had packed her favorite clothes and shoes, and the lingerie she'd bought the day before. She had never been one for lace and silk undergarments, but she wanted to be her sexiest for Fitz. She wanted to look as sexy as he made her feel. If there was any justice, all the time she spent picking each piece would be several eternities compared to the time she spent wearing it. She smiled as she picked up the white nightgown he'd seen before and placed it in her suitcase.

She looked up in surprise at the sound of the doorbell. Her parents were gone to work and she hadn't been expecting any company. She descended the stairs wondering who could be calling on her. Especially as she'd already told everyone important that she was going to Atlanta for the week to visit with a friend from the war.

Olivia was surprised to find Edison on the other side of the door, smiling at her. It was a weekday. Surely he had classes to teach.

"Hi Eddy." She opened the door and stepped back to let him inside out of the sweltering July heat.

"Hi Liv." He smiled at her and she offered her best smile back. It wasn't that she disliked him. It was just that she found his general presence oppressing, like at any moment he was going to rain on her parade.

He shut the door. Olivia tried to refrain from frowning. He had the damnedest habit of showing up when she least expected it. She wondered what he could want after such a long time of not talking.

"How are you?" she asked because she could think of nothing else to say to him.

He smiled. "I'm okay. I've been working a lot lately."

"Me too." She looked at him expectantly. When he didn't say anything, she began to think of reasons why he would be there. "Oh! You must be here to get the ring."

"I…" He didn't finish because she was already headed up the stairs. He followed her and stopped in her doorway, looking curiously at her bags. "I didn't come for the ring. Where are you going?"

"To see a friend in Atlanta for a few days." She resumed packing, feeling uneasy. "You didn't come for the ring? Is there something else you needed? Did you leave something important here?"

"Just you." He smiled at her. "Liv, I think maybe we should try again. I was too rash when I left before. You and me have something special and we should work to keep it."

Olivia blinked at him. She truly hadn't been expecting this. Had she been too hasty in throwing them away? She had all but physically kicked him out and he was back again pleading for her. That had to mean something, didn't it? "What?"

"Well I talked to my mother and I told her that we're having whatever kind of wedding you want because it's your day." That was a step in the right direction. "And you can keep nursing and keep your hair that way if you want. I'm done pushing you, Liv."

She didn't know what to say to him. He had come back with the right ideas and the right attitude, but he was too late. She had already moved on. But she couldn't tell him that. Not when he was standing there looking at her with such sad eyes. "Eddy...I don't know what to say."

"Say you'll take me back," he implored. "No! Say you'll come to the courthouse with me right now and get married. No muss, no fuss."

"What?" He had gone crazy. He had fallen and hit his head. That was the only thing that could have possessed to come to her with such a ridiculous idea. "Edison we can't do that."

"Why not? The biggest problem was my mother butting in, right? She can't butt in if we go to the courthouse and get it done. Think about it. We can go right now and fill out the papers and have the ceremony. Tonight we'll go out for a nice dinner. Tomorrow morning when we wake up, it's done and there's nothing anybody can do about it."

Olivia shook her head. "Our biggest problem was that you don't listen to me. You hear the parts you want and pretend the rest is just white noise, Eddy. You don't want me. You want a wife. And there's some girls who could settle for that but I can't."

"So that's it? It's really over between us?"

Olivia turned to look at him. "What do you want me to say Edison?"

"That you want to get married!" He'd never shouted at her before but he had been trying for months since she'd gotten home to make her happy and she threw up roadblocks every chance she got. He couldn't wrap his head around what her problem was.

"Well I don't. Not to you anyway." Her tone was indifferently even. She'd dealt with enough children to know you never fed the fire when they decided to throw tantrums. She walked to her nightstand and retrieved the ring from the top drawer. She frowned as she walked over to him to give it back.

He took it reluctantly. "I guess this is goodbye. That's a shame. We could've really been something."

"Goodbye Edison. Take care of yourself." She'd always imagined the end of an engagement would bring tears but she didn't feel like crying. She felt free.

"Can I at least give you a ride to the bus station?" he asked, looking at her luggage. He wondered who she was going to see.

"No. I'll get there on my own just fine. Thank you for offering though." She smiled at him. She did still like him as a person. But she knew Edison, and that didn't mean anything to him. He was an all or nothing person. You either gave him what he wanted, or he wanted nothing to do with you.

"Are you going to see your friend Abby?" he asked curiously.

"Yes. She's coming down from New York for the week before she goes back to Italy. She signed up for a second tour of duty. I'm thinking I might want to go back too." She gave no reaction to his frown.

"Well you've been itching to get back so maybe you should." Her stomach roiled with animosity at the contempt that laced his voice. Maybe she didn't really like him as a person. Maybe she just desperately wanted to like him as consolation for not being in love with him.

She smiled icily at him. "Goodbye Eddy. I've got to get to the bus station."

XXXXX

Edison frowned as he watched Olivia step off the bus at the stop in front of the Lydia Hotel. He hadn't really thought of what he might do when he followed her to the bus station, or what he would do when he followed the bus all the way to Atlanta. He'd just been going. Some things weren't adding up. She wouldn't have just let him go if there wasn't someone else. Girls never gave up sure things unless they had something even surer lined up.

Olivia patted her face with Fitz's handkerchief as she stepped off the bus. There was no call for such heat. She stood with the other passengers as the porter unloaded luggage. She picked up her bags and turned around. She looked down the street at the hotel and smiled as she made out Fitz's form leaning against the front of the hotel, a cigarette dangling from his mouth. It was a struggle not to run into his arms. But she remembered where she was and who they were and contained herself. They were in the mostly colored section of Atlanta, but there was trouble to be had anywhere.

Edison turned to watch her out the back window as she walked toward the hotel. He had no idea what Abby looked like, but he guessed none of the women standing near the hotel's entrance was her, especially once Olivia walked past them all to come to a stop in front of a tall white man smoking a cigarette. He almost assumed the man might be Abby's husband until Olivia reached up and took the cigarette from his lips to put it between her own. The man smiled at her and said something that made her laugh as she exhaled smoke.

"Well I'll be damned," he muttered.

By the hotel entrance, butterflies scraped Olivia's ribcage as she stared at Fitz. She'd never guessed such exhilaration could come from a person's mere presence. She couldn't believe she was smiling at her lover's laughing eyes when just months before she'd been mooning over letters that promised a visit she wasn't guaranteed to get. But there he was, handsome as ever as he leaned against the wall. The man made a plain gray t-shirt and muddy green cargo pants look like the finest suit.

"Excuse me. I don't believe we've met. But I'm certainly not one to turn away beautiful women," he flirted with a smile.

"Well I hope you're inclined to show me a good time." She gave him back his cigarette.

Fitz winked at her as he took the cigarette. "I might have a few things in mind. The first of which involving a hot bath drawn for a special lady by some lovely gentleman who figured that bus ride would have you stiff."

"I'll have to thank him handsomely for being so thoughtful." She smiled at him as he took her bags, cocking his head toward the hotel's heavy gilded double doors.

"After you ma'am."

She smiled at him over her shoulder as she headed for the doors. "You're very polite for a bellhop. I'll have to tip you extra."

Edison watched as they headed into the hotel. Shocked was an understatement. A white man. Of all the people she could have left him for, she chose some white man. How could she be so stupid? There was nothing good a white man could want with her, nothing good for her anyway. But he had tossed her a few sweet words, and maybe a few trinkets, and there she was, gallivanting in a hotel like a common street walker. He shook his head as he started his truck to head home. She'd be back once her white man got his fill of adventure and he'd be waiting to finally make a proper woman out of her.

**A/N: There's much smut and fluff to come, and a little more drama with Edison but that won't be for quite a few chapters. The next few chapters are going to consist of our babies enjoying their time together. The drama is going to be minimal but not nonexistent. Don't forget to review! Don't be shy!**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: So our babies are together again at last. Don't fret because there won't be any angst for a while. There's gonna be a little drama but nothing big. I'm reluctant to even call it drama. But I digress. **

**To answer some of the questions in the reviews:**

**Olivia sent Fitz to Atlanta because she didn't want to be seen and recognized in Macon. It isn't that she's ashamed of him, just that it's a small town where many people share Edison's opinion on BFWM relationships. Fitz will make an appearance in Macon before all is said and done though.**

**Olivia's parents were at work. She got off around noon that day after working all night so she and Fitz had a little while because everything took place during business hours. I'm not sure if I mentioned what they do but it will come up in the storyline. Not in a B6-13 way though. **

**Now that that's out of the way, let's get to the smuff!**

Olivia blinked awake, moving to turn her face away from the sunlight shining through the window. She was surprised to find the bed empty and squinted around the room in search of Fitz. A moment later he drifted into her line of vision as he moved to close the curtains, blocking out the blinding morning light. She yawned as she rolled onto her back to smile at his boxer-clad form. He had the most spectacular back muscles. And his butt and thighs seemed to have been perfectly sculpted by God himself.

"I can feel you staring Livvie." She smiled at his voice, looking away when he turned around to look at her. He walked over to the bed and sat down, playfully poking her side. "You can't have the whole bed to yourself."

She rolled onto her side and he got under the covers with her, moving close so he could pull her into the curve of his body. She smiled as she ran her fingers through his sleep-tousled hair. "Good morning."

"Good morning." He leaned over and kissed her. His lips tasted like coffee. Olivia wondered how long he'd been awake. She had fallen asleep on him in the middle of her post-bath massage the night before, only waking when he picked her up to put her under the covers then quickly dozing off again. "I could get used to waking up to you every morning."

She smiled, nuzzling his neck with her nose. "I'm sorry I fell asleep on you last night. I was just so relaxed."

"It's alright, Livvie." His fingertips traced patterns on her bare back. "You're beautiful when you sleep."

She smiled against his soap-scented neck, reaching up to trace his lips with her fingertip. She couldn't stop touching him. He was a flame and she was a moth, wanting to be burned deliciously.

"So what do you want to do today?" he asked, rubbing her back. He wanted to feel her bare flesh forever. He had spent a long while the night before watching her sleep with her head on his chest, stroking her hair, praying to every deity he might believe in that she'd never leave him. She was all the light in his life and anything without her was cloaked in damnable darkness. He wondered how he'd gone his whole life not knowing that the universe only existed in the grooves of her spine and the palms of her hands and every place that wasn't quite stable.

"Well I was thinking I could take you to a movie then we could have dinner at my favorite restaurant. They have the best peach cobbler in the whole world." She smiled, resting her chin on his chest. "But the movies doesn't open until noon."

He looked over at the clock. It was 9:07. He smiled at her. "Well we've got a little while to wait. What should we do?"

She grinned like a nymph. "Well I didn't get to give you a massage."

"No you didn't." He grinned at her and she wanted to kiss the incisors from his mouth.

She rolled off him. "Roll on your back."

He did as he was told, and lifted his hips when she tugged at his boxers. Olivia pulled them off slowly. Fitz jumped when she nipped his left buttock with her teeth. He looked down at her with a dark smirk. "Hey! Don't start something you can't finish, Livvie."

"Who says I can't finish?" She cocked her right eyebrow at him then sat on his backside. She started with his shoulders, his delightfully broad, strong shoulders. God had truly taken his time crafting Fitzgerald Thomas Grant III. She found a tender spot between them, and smiled when he groaned that her hands felt good. He reached back and took hold of her thighs. She looked down at his tan hands. Even his fingers were beautiful. She worked her way down his back, making circles in his lower back with her thumbs that made him groan in the sweetest tone.

"Roll over." She climbed off his and he rolled onto his back, looking at her with half-closed eyes. She smiled as she crawled up toward his face. "You're not sleepy, are you?"

He grinned, reaching out to caress her side. "No ma'am. I believe I've been hypnotized though. I find myself completely at your mercy."

"Oh really?" Her fingernails traced patterns on the downy-soft chestnut hair on his firm chest. She moved her hand to his head, running her fingers through his gorgeous bourbon curls as she leaned over to give him soft drugging kisses. Fitz wasn't sure what it was about her that intoxicated him so effortlessly. She was like good whiskey, going down so smoothly that you didn't realize you'd had too much until you were falling down drunk. And even then you wanted just a little more. She would be the death of him, and damn if he wouldn't die happy. She kissed his Adam's apple, lingering for just a moment to breathe in his wonderful scent. Fitz's hand wound in her hair, fingering her onyx tendrils and rubbing her scalp. She almost purred.

She kissed patterns on his chest, enjoying the rhythm of his breathing. He gasped when she bit his right nipple, his hand tightening in her hair for the briefest moment as he looked down at her with wide eyes. She smiled, licking the reddening spot to ease the sting. He relaxed under her touch, through her fingernails scraping the inside of his thigh made him want to crawl out of his skin. She planted hot kisses on his stomach that made his breathing jagged and shallow, escaping in little hiccupped gasps when she bit him in a few soft places along the way.

"You're gonna get it for biting me, little woman," he promised in a hoarse voice. Her little hands gripped his pulsing length.

"Am I?" Her breath skittered over his skin and he almost leapt off the bed. Her lips were so close to the tip of his manhood that he could practically feel her words hitting it. She was going to drive him mad yet. He almost came undone at the feeling of her fingernails grazing over him so gently. Her mouth clamping over him was the sweetest agony. He let out a throaty groan that triggered a thumping in Olivia's core that she'd never experienced. She flattened her tongue against him and his grip on her hair tightened. She was more than happy to move at his desired pace, or do anything that would make him moan so softly. When he was close, when his grip on her hair was almost painful she took her mouth away. Fitz felt like the wind had been knocked out him. He was pleasantly surprised when she moved over him and lowered her core onto his. Her head fell back, her eyes closing as her mouth opened in a gasp. He sat up and wrapped his arms around her, his hand moving around to the back of her head to resume its hold on her hair. He kept her head back, his lips clamping onto her pulse point.

"Fitz…" His name came out like a prayer. She rocked her hips against his desperately. Fitz managed to lift himself up on his knees and lay her back on the bed. He pulled her legs over his arms, the backs of her knees resting in the crook of his elbows. She expected him to lower her bottom onto the bed and lay atop her, but he didn't. He smiled and began pushing his hips into hers, watching as her eyes widened at the new sensations created by the angle. She was sure her shoulders would be burned from the friction of their slow, deliberate pace. She reached for the footboard, her hands clamping onto the wooden rails as the bed began to creak with their movements. He finally leaned over to cover her body with his, her knees against her shoulders, a position she was all too familiar with, and grabbed her hands as they held onto the rails for dear life.

"Look at me," he whispered against her lips. His hips grinding into hers was sweet torture. She needed him to go faster, but she needed him to keep his pace for just a little while longer, just until she fell apart. He bit her bottom lip. "Look at me."

Her eyes fluttered open and she stared at him, hypnotized by the way fire seemed to dance in his sapphire eyes. The first wave of her orgasm hit and her eyes closed, her back arching as much as it could given her current position. Fitz let go of one of her hands, moving to clasp her neck delicately. He kissed all the breath from her lungs, coaxing, "Look at me, Livvie."

Once more her eyes opened and she found herself staring at him, this time struggling to keep her gaze locked on his as she rode the waves of pleasure. Fitz smiled, watching her come undone. He loved what he could do to her, how her body responded to his. He leaned over to bite her earlobe, trapping her fully under his weight. His tongue on the soft spot below her earlobe pushed Olivia over the edge. With a might shout of his name, her levies broke, leaving her quivering violently in his arms for a moment before she froze beautifully in a silent scream as electricity shot throughout her body. Fitz watched her rapt eyes. If he'd been able to, he would have taken her picture, to show her and the rest of the world how beautiful she was when she came undone.

But he couldn't pause long enough, not when her mewling cries and rippling channel were pulling him over the edge of his own cliff. He bit her shoulder, hard enough to create a perfect imprint of his teeth on her supple flesh, as his body shuddered against hers. Everything went white then black as he rode the crescendos of his climax. He let her legs go and they quickly wrapped around his waist. Her fingers wound in his curls and she covered his face in kisses.

"We should get up and shower," he murmured against her slick skin.

She ran her fingers over his back. "As soon as I can feel my legs again. You really shouldn't fold me up this way."

"I wouldn't if you didn't like it so much." He kissed her bottom lip, smiling when she managed to catch his between her teeth.

"You're gonna get it for sassing me," she promised. He rolled off her, allowing her to stretch her legs out.

He lay on his side, smiling at her as he caressed her stomach with his fingertips. "You are so beautiful. How'd I get so lucky to get a girl so gorgeous?"

She smiled at him. "You kept up with that smile until I couldn't resist."

He poked her belly button. "You didn't try very hard."

She smirked. "Would you have stopped if I had?"

"Not even a little." He smiled so bright. She'd give him the sun if he wanted it.

She finally sat up, reaching over to pinch his cheek. "Will you buy me popcorn and candy at the movies?"

"Only if you'll give me kisses."

She got off the bed and smiled at him. "I don't know if I should. My other boyfriend might not like it."

He got up too and walked around the bed to grab hold of her, leaning down to kiss her lips. "That's too bad isn't it?"

They decided to share a shower, or rather Fitz decided to join her in the shower even after he'd been told not to. Olivia just smiled and turned her back to him like he wasn't there as she bathed. Fitz smirked, reaching out to lather her back with the bar of soap.

"Stop that. We don't have any more time Fitz." He smiled at her stern tone and continued washing her back.

XXXXX

After a shower that took much longer than it should have, they managed to leave the hotel and walk to the movie theater. Fitz enjoyed holding Olivia's little hand in his, the way it fit so perfectly like it had been meant to be there all along. Olivia's heart swelled. She never imagined such enjoyment could come from walking down the street and holding your lover's hand. It was so innocent, but so exhilarating.

"I can pay for the tickets," she insisted, digging around in her purse for her money, when they reached the ticket booth.

"No you can't." Fitz replied, his wallet already out. The bored-looking attendant just kept his hand out, waiting for the money.

She looked up at him defiantly. "Fitzgerald Thomas Grant, you put that wallet away or I'm going to kill you with it. You can buy the snacks. _I'm_ paying for the tickets."

"Fine." He put the wallet away, smirking as she fished around in her large red purse for money. She finally produced a dollar bill and handed it to the attendant, who exchanged it for their tickets. He looked at them quizzically but didn't say anything. When they walked away, headed for the "Colored" entrance, he shook his head. Their boys were going off to war and coming back with some of the most unsuitable tastes. He had to hand it to Fitz, though. She was a cute one.

"You have different entrances?" Fitz asked as they entered a side door, marked "Colored."

"And water fountains, and bathrooms," Olivia answered matter-of-factly. She looked back at him. "Is it not like that in California?"

"Not where I'm from. It's such a small place, we don't really pay too much mind to those things. There's one of everything." He frowned at the sight of the water fountains she'd mentioned.

"Hopefully it won't be that way here for too much longer."

"hopefully not," Fitz replied as they reached the snack bar. He smiled at Olivia. "What do you want?"

"I don't know. Whatever you get is fine. We can share."

He smirked at her. "Who says I want to share?"

She smiled back, wrinkling her nose at him. "Who says I care what you want?"

"Keep up your sass. You'll pay for it." He turned to smile at the woman behind the counter but quickly dropped it as she scowled at him. "Large popcorn and a Coke, please."

"Uh huh," she replied, thrusting her hand out for his money. He placed two dollars in her hand, glancing at Olivia. Olivia's chin jutted out defiantly, her eyes on the woman as the woman stared at her. When Olivia didn't look away, the woman finally blinked and opened the cash register to give Fitz his change. He stuffed it in his pocket, reaching with his right hand to take hold of Olivia's. He gave it a little squeeze. Her face softened as she squeezed back. "Here y'all go."

He looked at the woman behind the counter. She reminded him of an aunt he had in San Francisco, except for the hatred in her eyes. He'd never been looked at that way, not even by a Nazi. He took their food and frowned as he followed Olivia away from the concession stand. When they reached the door to the theater, he stepped into her path. "Livvie…"

She shook her head fiercely. She'd cry if he said what she knew he would say and she refused to ruin their day. "Don't. Don't you dare apologize for that."

"I just feel so bad. I hate the way she looked at you, at us." She wouldn't look at him. He stared at her, willing her to raise her eyes to his.

Olivia finally looked up at him and her eyes softened. "You aren't them. They aren't you. You have nothing to feel bad about."

"I just…" He looked down at his shoes. He'd never felt so helpless. The fact that the world couldn't see how beautiful and amazing Olivia was because of some preconceived notion about the implications of her skin color made him furious. The fact that he couldn't do anything about it made him feel even worse.

"I know." She reached up to take his face in her hands, pulling his head down so that their foreheads touched.

He smiled. He couldn't help but smile looking at her. "I love you Livvie. So much it makes me crazy. You're the most important person in my life."

"I love you too, more than I've ever loved anyone." She stood on tiptoe to kiss his stubbly chin. "Don't you worry about me. No one can make me feel inferior without my consent, and these people certainly don't have it."

He kissed the tip of her nose. If she could, she'd have plucked his heart from his chest and put it in her pocket for safe-keeping just in case he ever decided he was tired of love. Olivia took his hand to lead him up the staircase that led to the balcony. There were only a few people sitting up there, all of them colored. Fitz guessed the balcony was the colored section. He held Olivia's hand, bringing it to his lips to kiss her fingertips as they sat on the unoccupied back row. She smiled at him as the lights went down.

Half an hour into the movie, Olivia found herself swatting Fitz's lips off her neck every few minutes. Every time she pushed him away he would stop obediently, only to restart within minutes.

"Fitzgerald Grant, stop it now." His left hand danced under the hem of her sailor dress. She swatted his hand away but he only brought it back. With his lips on his neck, she knew she wouldn't be able to resist his sinfully skillful fingers drifting so close to where she craved him constantly.

"Do you really want me to stop?" He ran his index fingertip over the lacy waistband of her lavender panties.

"Please," she hissed. She wasn't even sure what she was asking for. Fitz decided to interpret the answer independently and slipped his hand in her panties. Olivia had to bite her lip to keep from crying out when he reached her bundle of nerves. Fitz grinned in the darkness.

"Does that feel good?" He smirked when her only reply was a whimper as he rubbed her bundle of nerves between his thumb and forefinger. He leaned over to kiss her neck, working his fingers down to slip them inside her. Olivia tasted blood as she bit her lip to keep from moaning. Fitz curled his fingers inside her, making her thighs tremble. She nodded, her fingernails digging into his thigh. He turned in his seat so he could push his fingers deeper. Olivia gasped and bit deeper into her lip, a soft whimper escaping. He snaked his left arm around her and delicately clasped the back of her neck. He pulled her face close so he could kiss her to swallow her moans. She grabbed hold of his curls desperately, her thighs falling apart as she scooted lower in her chair, urging him deeper. She could feel her climax building and knew she was in for a core-shaking orgasm.

"I've got you baby. Just hold onto me." She nodded, burying her face in the crook of his neck and groaning against his soap-scented skin. Thankfully the movie was loud enough to cover the sounds of her moans or the whole theater would have gotten an earful. Fitz hissed when her teeth clamped onto his neck as she shuddered thorough an only slightly contained climax, collapsing in his arms.

"Are you ready to go?" he asked then delivered a kiss to her sweaty brow. She could only nod and hold onto him weakly as he stood. She didn't regain proper control of her legs until they reached the stairs. She had to practically run to keep up with his pace as they hurried back to the hotel. He couldn't get her alone fast enough.

XXXXX

Olivia smiled as she watched Fitz look at the plate of steaming peach cobbler in front of him. He had stuffed himself with fried pork chops, mashed potatoes smothered with gravy, candied yams, and collard greens. Olivia was impressed by the amount of food he'd put away. She had barely finished her chicken and dumplings, having forgotten what large portions her favorite restaurant, Sylvia's Soul Food, served.

"Think you can eat it all?" she asked.

"I might pass out after, but yeah." He picked up his fork and stabbed a hunk of cobbler. Olivia watched with a smile as he put it in his mouth, smiling when his eyes closed. "Oh my God. This is amazing."

She reached onto his plate with her fork and laughed when he swatted her hand away. "No. This is all mine. Get your own."

"Really? That's how you're gonna be?" She gave him her best sad eyes and pouty frown.

He looked up at her and smiled reluctantly. "Don't make that face. I can't take that face, Livvie."

She continued to make the face, even making her eyes water a little for added effect. He sighed as he picked up a hunk of cobbler on his fork. He held it to her lips. "You don't play fair."

She smiled as she leaned over to eat off his fork. "I love you."

"That's not always going to work." He smiled, knowing he was lying. It would always work.

"Enough to get me a massage when we get back to the hotel?"

Fitz smirked. "I guess. The things I do for such pretty eyes…"

"Finish that cobbler so we can go home." Olivia smiled innocently as she slipped off her right red pump then slid her foot up his leg. He smiled just so. Olivia smiled back. "What?"

"You said home," he replied, his smile immovable.

She laughed, beautifully and sweet. "Well anywhere with you is home."

Fitz smiled as he signaled for the check.

**A/N: Oooooh I just love all this smuff I'm getting to write for my babies! Next chapter our babies are going dancing and Liv will wear that daring red dress. Will that cause a problem? Maybe. And Fitz still has that ring… But there's more to do before we get to that so until then, leave your reviews! XOXO**


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